Reviews by jf01

Twenty-eight years ago this week, my family was on vacation. I think we went to NYC, but it may have been Toronto. On our drive home, we stopped at a gas station and I picked up a copy of Rolling Stone with Puff Daddy, who was then one of my favorite rappers, on it.

Cover in question: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284352921187 - I did not recall until now that Jeff Buckley and Prodigy were also on the cover. I got a lot out of this one magazine.

Enjoying Puff Daddy has not aged well. Luckily, the issue has redeeming qualities. On top of the articles on Buckley and Prodigy, in the back of the magazine were short reviews of albums. And that week Rolling Stone reviewed this album, which had come out about two months prior. (If they reviewed it a week earlier or later, I may never have heard of it.) They gave it 3.5 stars in a review that, reading it today, doesn’t jump out at me: https://web.archive.org/web/20010919072038/http://www.rollingstone.com/recordings/review.asp?aid=27747&cf=1304

But in August 1997, we didn’t have blogs or Pitchfork or anything like that. We lived under the tyranny of radio. And I think 3.5 stars from the famous music magazine for an album I’d never heard of but sounded cool inspired me. I bought the album without having heard a second of it and hoped for the best.

I don’t love every second of this album. It is a little long—cop shoot cop is great, but it could still work a few minutes shorter. I’m not always in the mood for some of the rockier songs. I’d probably cut “the individual.”

But I know when I turn it on today I will feel much the same way I must have felt twenty-eight years ago when I first heard it: this opening track is one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever heard, I didn’t know music could do this, Puff Daddy could never. At its best—for me, that’s the title track and cool waves, which is not to say other moments aren’t great—it is an album of transcendent beauty. For that, and for being another one of those pivotal albums that moved my musical taste to a different place, I will always love this album. As the common wisdom holds, you never love music more than the music you discovered when you were 13.

Also, big shout out to Wikipedia for this:
“The original 1997 pressing of the album features the edited version of the song without the intended Elvis Presley lyrics; that version runs 3:40, does not have the subtitle "(I Can't Help Falling in Love)", and did not need to credit Weiss/Peretti/Creatore. This brings the album's run time down to 69:41.”

When I first heard the version that interpolated “I can’t help falling in love” a few years ago, I thought “how did I never notice those lyrics before?” It turns out, I didn’t notice them because they weren’t on my 1997 CD. Phew. Not insane.

I owned an Alice In Chains “greatest hits” album in high school. I see now it was called “nothing safe - best of [a box set].” But they were always behind Nirvana and Pearl Jam, in my estimation.

As an adult I’ve come to appreciate Layne Staley’s voice much more. And Jerry Cantrell’s, for that matter. That has elevated my appreciation of this band. The unrelenting gloom is still maybe a little much for me—just a thought, but maybe the 30-minute Jar of Flies EP would be a better intro to those who are unfamiliar with this band—but I like this.

Also, they really have a knack for devastating final lines. See Would?, Nutshell.

I didn’t understand most of this, but I thought it was really fun. Is “industrial camp” a genre? Because that’s what this felt like.

I am a little worried this is all pro-Nazi propaganda. Let’s see what Wikipedia says:
“Laibach has frequently been accused of both far left and far right political stances due to their use of uniforms and totalitarian-style aesthetics. They were also accused of being neo-nationalists. When confronted with such accusations, Laibach is quoted as replying with the ambiguous response "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter".[29] Laibach concerts have sometimes aesthetically appeared as political rallies, and the members of Laibach are notorious for rarely stepping out of character. When interviewed, they often answer in wry manifestos, showing a paradoxical lust for, and condemnation of, authority.”

That’s hilarious. I no longer assume this is Nazi propaganda; I think it’s just absurdism or parody. I think I love this band. This is probably a 3.5, rounded down.

Before I started listening, I thought there was a chance this would be only a 4. It’s one I have no childhood affinity for. It’s grown on me over the last 20 years—was maybe a 2 or 3 the first time I listened in 2002. There were definitely listens when I thought it was boring and bland.

But then I dove in and there was no way it would be anything other than a 5. On headphones, which is not how I usually listen, there were so many interesting sounds. I love the lyrics. At this point it’s just a trusty companion. I’ve got reservations about so many things, but not about this album.

I like “livin on a prayer.” It does a disservice to too many drunken college nights to pretend otherwise. But I won’t say any of these songs are good.

I wonder if I could learn the guitar parts to this entire album in a day. Oh, maybe not: I see a couple scattered measures in some of the guitar solos that would be tricky for me. I couldn’t play the “raise your hands” riff, especially that harmonic run. Maybe I could get to 90% in a day.

I mean this sincerely: in “wanted dead or alive,” is he a cowboy or a rock star? If he’s a rock star, nobody wants him dead. If he’s a cowboy, he doesn’t ride a steel horse. A steel horse is, I assume, a tour bus. I would guess he’d say he’s both a metaphorical cowboy *and* a real rock star, but then the writing is full of mixed metaphors and it’s just bad. A loaded six-string isn’t a thing. What makes you say you might not make it back? Sir, we are talking about a Wednesday night at an arena in Minneapolis, not the OK Corral. What about being on the road makes you a cowboy? When the best explanation for a song’s lyrics is “we didn’t think about it for longer than about five seconds,” that’s not great.

I know “raise your hands” from a movie. What movie, Google? Oh, it’s Spaceballs. I kinda thought that was a fake bad song they made up for the movie. Guess not! It is a real bad song Bon Jovi made up and then voluntarily chose to include on an actual album people paid money for.

Between a 1 and a 2. On the one hand, there’s no artistic merit to any of this and my “crass sellout” alarms are blaring. On the other, how many times have I screamed “whoa-oh” in my life because of this album? That’s worth something.

Okay, so I wrote that last paragraph with about four songs to go on the album. And those songs sucked. I’m going to give this a 1, add “livin on a prayer” to my ongoing playlist for this project, and note that my nostalgia for that song is very strong and the 1 rating is not a reflection of good times had at parties and weddings. It is a reflection that Bon Jovi fucking sucks.

I have a vague memory of them being so hyped when they came out, but I never got into them. Smart decision.

It just feels like to be an album you “must” hear before you die, it should introduce you to something new you can’t get elsewhere. And I’m struggling with what that might be for this album. “Imagine the White Stripes but at like 40% of the vitality?” “Blues rock with the production of 2012?” The songs themselves don’t really do it for me and then there don’t seem to be any historical or cultural reasons to hear this.

Oh, okay, there it is: “I’m Shakin” is a fun 50s/60s revival. So, like, one song. Is there a 1001 Songs … project?

For obvious (ozzvious?) reasons, I was listening to Ozzy more than I usually do. Guys, I think he’s pretty good.

After the first three tracks (US version), I was contemplating 5 stars, but I think it settled into 4. Honestly, a relief. If I had to consider dethroning Paranoid as the best Black Sabbath album, I might spiral.

I really like “Angel from Montgomery.” I’ve never clicked with “Sam Stone,” despite any number of people who call it a classic.

If Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath birthed good metal, but bad metal exists, it must follow that bad metal came from somewhere outside of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Pretty sure Aristotle said that. I think we’ve found the ur-bad metal.

I usually like Bollywood but this one wasn’t for me

To be fair, I don’t think listening to this sleep-deprived in the fever-induced haze of a viral infection did it any favors. On the other hand, I don’t think there are any conditions in which I would enjoy it.

Tracks 1-5 good, tracks 6-8 abysmal, track 9 again good. I don’t think I can give a 5 when 1/3 of the album sucks.

Not a true “no-skips” album because Silverfuck exists, but otherwise basically perfect. If I made a list of my 100 favorite songs, I wouldn’t be surprised if Today, Disarm, Soma, and Mayonaise all made it. Easy 5.

I respect these guys so much for their ethos, but this album doesn’t do it for me. Much prefer 13 Songs and In on the Kill Taker.

I made it over halfway!

This was a lot of fun. Don’t think it has the makings of a 5, but a solid 4.

I listened to one song and skimmed a few others. I feel like I get it.

I knew the two hits, obviously. And I kinda expected the rest of the album to be poppy filler. It’s so much more interesting than that. I loved “Tonite” and every other new-to-me song was solid. The two hits are undeniably fun but they are not what I love about this album, which is its punk insouciance. (Although I do think “we got the beat” benefits from the context of the whole album, which seems to draw out elements of that song I hadn’t focused on before.) I thought about 5 but I think it’s merely a solid 4.

Also I think if I had bought this album in 1981 and then Belinda Carlisle made “heaven is a place on earth” six years later, I would have rioted.

Thought this was my favorite Dylan. I think maybe it’s just four great songs (wind, masters, rain, think twice) and that deceived me into loving the rest.