Reviews by jaileer5

A whole week without a Bowie album! Thank god this popped up, I don’t know how I was going to make it!

There are too many Bowie albums. This one was fine.

Surprisingly decent. Wonderful? No. Very 60s, and Joplin is as screechy as ever. But eminently listenable.

This popped up and my first thought was "oh, here's a 5 star album!" The first two songs are Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel - excellent! Both songs are toe tapping legends and we're well on the way to that 5 stars. But then...Oh boy. Speed Demon is just kind of weird, but still kind of bouncy and fine. But Liberian Girl is cringey af and Just Good Friends is gross 80s schlock. Another Part of Me is kind of catchy after you get past the early 80s sound effects. But then we're back to business! Man in the Mirror is amazing (even if it does sound a bit dated),Dirty Diana is still a pretty good time, and Smooth Criminal is still a banger.

Overall, it sounds much more 80s than I remember. I'd give it a 3.5 but I'll bump it to a 4 because my brother-in-law was in the Smooth Criminal video.

I don't really know what to say about this album. In fact, I was so puzzled trying to determine whether I liked it that I listened to it twice. The verdict is: I still don't know. I definitely do not like the first song, but after that it settles in to a perfectly nice, soothing, dream pop-type album. It's perfectly OK, completely non-threatening and about as cutting edge as a bowl of warm pudding. I feel like I've given worse albums three stars, but there's something about this album that's so formulaic that it's almost offensive.

I think I'll give it a 3, because it's fine, but I'm not fully comfortable with it.

German noise rock is so tedious. Three songs in and I’m hearing something that sounds like a bubbling, clogged toilet with some simple banjo picking - oh, and here comes the random scream/wail and the shouting in German.

It doesn't get better.

I don't really like punk music, but this is pretty damned good. It's like all other punk is either the early bones that this album perfected, or it's simply trying to be this album.

I’m going to give this a 4, as I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

Firstly, Apple Music has this categorized as rock music. I'm not entirely sure *what* it is -- Funk? Disco? -- but it is *not* rock.

With that out of the way...it was quite nice. Not anything I'd seek out, but very upbeat, groovy, and bouncy.

Country music is just whiny trash.

Masterpiece. This album is Bjork at her weirdest, creative, beautiful best.

This is a super weird album. At first, I thought I was really going to like it, later on...not so much. A brief listing of music that the album made me think of while listening: Arcade Fire, Charlie Brown, The Polyphonic Spree, Super Furry Animals, Peter & the Wolf.

It's not unpleasant. It's unique and, in places, very, very good. 3 stars seems about right. I'd listen to it again, but I wouldn't seek it out.

I love this album. There are a couple filler songs that keep it from being 5 stars, but the bangers are BANGERS.

Overall, I like it. I think he's got a very unique voice. My main criticism would be that he doesn't have much range, so al the songs start to meld together a bit. I know people love Cat Stevens, so I'm glad I listened to it.

I remember the first time I heard the song My Name Is, I literally said out loud, "Oh my god, Dre, what are you doing?"

Turns out, I was very, very wrong. Not only is the song an all time great, so ids the album AND the artist. Eminem gets a lot of ink for being a white rapper, but amongst all the unique things about this album, his race is nowhere near the most interesting, influential, or radical.

I've really spent a lot of time trying to decide the ranking for this album. with 25+ years of hindsight, I can say that this album launched the career of an all-time great, a cultural and musical phenomenon, a genius lyricist without peer. On the other hand, the lyrics are no longer shocking and, in fact, can seem attention-seeking and cringy. I would give this a 4.5 if I could. I don't think it's his best album, and I do think that it tails off a bit in the second half. Up to this point I've tried to reserve 5 star reviews for only the most special of albums, and I don't think this one *quite* lives up to that.

It's pretty OK. It doesn't sound heavily 80s, but it definitely has some 80s rock flavor to it. One thing that knocks its rating down a bit is that its quality is fairly inconsistent. Some songs I feel like I can hear bits of R.E.M. or The Lemonheads. Other songs just sound like basic album filler that is just kinda there. Overall, not a bad album, but too goddamned long. 20 songs is too many songs.

I have heard of Killing Joke but never really got into them. People of a certain age will remember Columbia House, where you could get CDs mailed to you for a penny. I remember ordering a Killing Joke album and it just didn't really grab me at the time. Firing up today, I was very dismayed to see that this album was released in 1980 - I thought they were a 90s band.

In short, this album is pretty awesome. It has shades of punk rock, in terms of the singers affectations, but musically it is much richer and more diverse. It doesn't sound like the 80s at all, or the 70s - it is something pretty damned unique. 4 stars.

Really great album. I’m not really the biggest Beck fan, but this album is a bit of an outlier to his previous works. 4.5 stars.

Pretty OK. Kind of a mellow rock type of deal. I'm curious why this is one made the list, but it wasn't unpleasant. Pretty unique. Solid 3 stars.

It's pretty good. It starts out slow, but it picks up nicely - there are some bops in here for sure. The song Alright is the hit here - I feel like I've heard this song in every movie or TV show that needs a teen anthem montage. In fact, I just looked it up and it has been in 23 movies or TV shows since its release.

Overall, I'd give the album a 3.5. I don't think it holds up to some of the 4 star albums I've rated before, but I feel like it's better than just "OK" or "fine," which has been my criteria for a 3 star album.

In the 90s, I was a West Coast guy, so I didn't really listen to this on repeat like some hip hop heads did, so it's fun to listen to it now, with a bit of remove. I've never fully been on board with the genius of Nas, but this album is exceptional. the beats and samples are so good, and there isn't a weak song on the album. 4.5 stars.

If Carol King and Joni Mitchell had a boring-ass baby.