Reviews by jaileer5

I guess it's kind of hard to completely dislike The Doors, but on the other hand, they sound very, VERY dated. This is another I would kind of give 3.5 if I could. When comparing it to yesterday's Queen album, I'd say the biggest difference is that the Queen album sounds unmistakably Queen, and very different than anything else. That gives it a sort of timelessness. This album sounds very The Doors, but The Doors sound is very heavy on the 70s rock organ, meaning it sounds very anachronistic. For that reason, I think this album gets a 3.

I find this extremely difficult to score. On one hand, it sounds like theatre music, and I don't like theatre music. On the other hand...I kinda like it. I think they lean into the camp a little too much for me at times with weird sounds and slide whistles and stuff (Seaside Rendezvous is exhibit A), but man, is there anything else that sounds like Queen? I have a son that hates rock music, but loves musical theater. He actually loves The Wall because it's just a glorified musical, and this album has the same feel to me so I keep thinking of him.

So how do I score it? I mean, it's a good album, but will I ever listen to it on purpose? Probably not. That said, I'm enjoying it! I'd give it a 3.5 if I could, but in this format, I think I'll give it a 4 because 1.) It's wholly unique, and 2.) Bohemian Rhapsody. The song is 50 years old and people still crank it. That's gotta count for something, right?

It’s fine. Very 70s.

Quite good. I’d imagine this band was an inspiration to Prince, as they blend R&B with Rock & Roll.

I don’t know. Maybe you had to be there?

Excellent downtempo electronic music. I greatly enjoyed this. One knock is I think it’s a little long, I kind of struggle with focusing with albums over an hour.

We’re having a baby in 9 months. Thanks a lot, Al Green.

This album is filled with staggeringly good lyrics. They’re so smart, and heartbreaking, and relatable, and honest, and thoughtful, and wise - I cannot even believe they were written by a 19-year-old.

I'm a child of the 90s, so of course I've heard the big radio releases, but unlike Alanis I was nowhere near as mature or emotionally intelligent to really pick up on the words. It's simultaneously a VERY 90s time capsule album, and a timeless album.

You know, it’s almost a shame that You Oughta Know is the song she’s most well known for. I remember the talk always being how she was like kind of a psycho ex-girlfriend. When I hear it now I just hear pain and catharsis and an attempt to come to grips with the most intense emotional pain of one’s life. Which is what every breakup feels like at 19! But then the rest of the songs on the album show the growth, and self awareness, and expectations for future relationships, the healing process that shows how she came out the other side of that pain. There’s an understanding that pain is a part of life and if you embrace it, and learn from it, that it can be positive. it’s almost like You Oughta Know is the first half of the movie and most people don’t know how the movie ends.

There are a couple songs that I don't think are as strong as others. I'd probably give it 4.5 if I could. Normally, for a 5 star review, I can't pick out any weak songs, but the lyrics on this album, I think, are so overwhelmingly great that I can forgive a couple songs that I, personally, don't connect to.

I'm pleasantly surprised. I know M.IA. through her radio releases, primarily Paper Planes (which, ironically, is one of the weakest songs on the album in my opinion). They're catchy, but they've never really grabbed me enough for me to seek out a full album. I can now say that was a mistake.

This album is really, really good. Taking a cornucopia of interesting sounds, cultures, experiences, and ideas, she's able to weave this really catchy tapestry of sound that has kept me bobbing my head and tapping my toes. I think the first two songs got a little repetitive within themselves, but that is a small niggle, and one that does not portend further repetitiousness throughout the album. Each song sounds different, but still work really well as part of a coherent album.

This is a great album. 4.5 stars.

I'm not going to argue that this is the greatest hip hop album ever made, but I'm also not going to argue against it. This album changed everything. It was grimy, it was dirty, it was chaotic, it was layered, it was nerdy, it was SO FUCKING COOL. It was life in New York on the ground level, in a voice never heard in such a way. It was The Wire in aural format. It was, and continues to be as influential an album as has ever been created, a seminal piece of art, a nearly flawless masterpiece.

PS - Don’t listen to the edited version that the included link takes you to on Apple Music. Take a second to find the full, unedited version in all its glory!

I don't know. Ultimately, I just find her voice regrettable. I think she's a good songwriter, but I just cannot connect with the music at all. I wish I could give it 2.5 stars. I think it's probably a "good" album if you're into this sort of thing, but I just don't like it, so giving it a 3 seems wrong. So just know in spirit it's 2.5.

Ponderous 80s bubblegum pop dross.

Totally fine. Sounds like mid 2000s radio rock. Kasabian-like. It’s fine.

Yeah...no.

This album is just a bunch of nothing. I listened to it yesterday and now, at 8am this morning, I can barely remember anything about it. It left absolutely no impression whatsoever. It is a bowl of non-flavored yogurt. It is a lukewarm glass of water.

Yeah. 5 stars. This album is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. Not a single weak song. Goddamn, if I could give this higher than 5 stars I would. Masterpiece.

I wanted to like this album more than I did. I really enjoy underground hip hop, but this one just seemed a little boring. I don’t know, it’s fine. I’m really torn. I don’t want to give it 2 stars, but I’m just not sure it’s good enough for three. I would give it 2.5 if I could. Since I can’t, I have to go with 2 stars because I was just bored.

I do not like 80s pop music. At all. So you can imagine my chagrin when this popped up this morning. Oddly, It starts off much stronger than I anticipated. Money Changes Everything was almost more punk than pop, with strong lyrical imagery. Even Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, the epitome of 80s pop, tells a pretty strong story if you focus on the lyrics. This is where it starts to fall down. When You Were Mine is a bog standard unrequited love pop song, and though Time After Time actually has some really sweet and heartfelt lyrics, the song itself is dreadful, and it just gets worse from there.

The last song, Yeah Yeah, has some weird, badly mixed VoiceOver. I don't know if it's supposed to be Betty Boop or something, but it's distracting and annoying and it's definitely crap.

I'm going to give it two stars. I'm actually impressed by parts of the album, but the parts that lean into the cliche 80s pop sound are just too bad and too numerous to rate any higher.

Honestly, one of the biggest and best surprises since I started this project, nearly 200 albums ago. I am stunned that I missed this band in the 90s. I had heard the name but somehow never came across any of their music and boy did I miss out!

Musically it’s fantastic. The unfortunately named Charlie Big Potato has the chunky grooves and creative time signatures that would make any prog band blush. The lead singer has pipes FOR DAYS. She is one of the rare breed that can actually use her voice like an instrument, getting gritty when needed, or sounding ethereal and angelic when it suits the song. Add to this mix the very good lyrical writing and you have an album for the ages. Why this band wasn’t even bigger I will never know, but it’s a 5 star album for me.

This is a wonderful album. It’s definitely a little “different,” but it’s amazing. Novocain for the Soul was a massive hit that most people will remember. The lyrics are tremendous - thought provoking and, in places, heartbreaking. E is amazing at seeing people and writing from the heart. 4 solid stars.