Reviews by jf01

I made it four songs

This was looking like a 4, with some possibility of a 5, until the last song extinguished that possibility entirely. Artists of the 60s and 70s: I know I’m 50 years too late, but I do not want to hear your one boring idea extended for 7 minutes. [cut to dead heads, offended]

Before today I had three songs from this album liked and I thought I was gonna have a great time. Unfortunately, I was correct to like those three songs and only those three.

When I saw this album come up, I remembered “the mother we share” being huge when it came out, and I asked myself why I couldn’t recall the album. Then I listened and I got my answer. It’s fine. But nothing else rises to the level of that song.

Thank goodness we’re done with this band now

It’s a canonical experience: you like the singles so you buy the album and realize you hate the rest of the album. 27 years later, I’m still wondering who let Anthony Kiedis write these lyrics. (Okay I did like “savior,” too.)

There was a steel guitar solo in Razor Boy I liked. I liked the guitar solo (and distorted tone of the solo) on Boston Rag. Your Gold Teeth sounds like the platonic ideal of a Steely Dan song. I thought My Old School sucked for about the first 4:30, but once they stopped singing, it got great. I also enjoyed King of the World more once those steel guitar licks kicked in around 3:00 in. Basically I’m saying I like alt-country Steely Dan more than jazz-pop Steely Dan.

Around the time this came out, the website Audiogalaxy featured “Svefn-g-englar.” It may have been a free (legal) download. But I know that was my first exposure to this band, which has become one of my favorites and one of the best concerts I’ve attended. I probably prefer ( ) to this album, but those two are my favorites.

I thought the “na na song” was a real groaner, one of the worst songs I’ve heard … well, we just had that Van Halen album a few days ago. So one of the worst non-Van Halen songs I’ve heard in a long time.

But besides that, the singles are great and new-to-me “I shall believe” was a standout.

Sometimes I do wish we listened to artists chronologically, to trace their evolution. Because this is not great. But I see the Spiritualized seeds.

Ace of Spades is such a great song. And this album also contains other songs!

On music alone, just a 2, so that’s what it gets here. But it also made Maggie say, “I could do that,” which is what the punk DIY ethos is all about, so I almost want to bump it up a grade.

Begrudgingly, I liked this more than I expected to

Pretty incredible how I formed an impression of how this would sound from the name, cover art, and era, and within 10 seconds my worst fears were confirmed. I made it to the third song but gave up then.

The first track was great: understated, brief, devoid of David Lee Roth. It’s everything I want in a Van Halen song.

Then “Jump” started. And, here’s the thing about “Jump.” I didn’t quite realize how “Jump”-less my life had been for so long. I’m middle-aged now. I don’t frequent the worst kinds of bars. I don’t attend sporting events where the PA announcer is imploring us to “get loud.” My friends’ wedding-DJ budgets now exceed “pure hack” level. So, it’s probably been years since I’ve heard “Jump.”

But when that synth riff kicked in, the Jumplessness of my life came into full view, as my ears were assaulted by noise they wrongly believed they’d left behind at some college dive bar. You don’t realize how good you’ve had it, all these Jump-less years, until you’re forced, once again, to listen to Jump. It was like Proust’s madeleines but if those madeleines were made of shit.

Panama: guitar great, rest meh, skip

I’m trying to give the remainder a chance because I’m positive I’ve only heard three songs off this album before today. And, hey, I feel like Drop Dead Legs rewarded that patience. I like that one.

Hot for teacher is another “great guitar, rest meh” song. Of the three big singles off this album, I’d have to say it’s my favorite.

Oh, I’ll Wait sounds familiar too? Don’t hate this one either. Look at you, Van Halen! You might just earn a 2 here!

Girl Gone Bad sounds like they needed another song for the album and they were told to improvise for four minutes without discussing what they were going to do ahead of time. House of Pain sounds like that but this time they were allowed to discuss their plans.

Okay so my three favorite songs on this are the knockoff AC/DC song (drop dead legs), the lyrically indefensible song (hot for teacher), and the one that sounds the least like the others (I’ll wait — I guess it technically sounds a lot like 1984, but I’m not counting 1984). I think finding three songs I kinda like, though, is enough to save this from a 1.

While this band could be my life, it will not be.

Qobuz selects a review for many albums and foregrounds that review on the album’s page. The review for this album made it sound like Steve Albini’s production was borderline unlistenable and an endurance test for listeners. Then I clicked play and it’s just a regular ol’ Albini album. Sounds like In Utero. Perfect.

I listened long enough to decide it was a 2 and not a 1 and then quit.

I don’t think I’m going to suddenly explore the entire Ray Charles discography, but he has been one of the most pleasant surprises in this whole endeavor. I’m a little sad—which is ridiculous, nothing is stopping me from listening to him—to be done with his entries now.

Dear god there’s still a third album to go with these guys. Could life be more hellish. The last time we had to suffer through this I said it was on the borderline of 1 and 2 and gave it a 1. This is pretty much the same so I’ll give it a 2 to be fair.