Reviews by jkegz

2/5 - I didn't need to hear this album before I die. It's well executed, relaxing, and beautiful, but also really dull if you've never listened all the way through before. Not for me.

3/5 - I’m pretty sure I didn’t need to hear this album before I die. Breakdown and American Girl are obvious standout hits, and Strangered in the Night is pretty good, but this isn’t an album of hidden gems. I love dozens of Tom Petty songs, but the debut is a bit thin for me.

3/5 - Why did I need to hear this album before I die? To get the feel of the ambience in a mid-century jazz club in Chicago from a time well before I was born. Vaughn has a beautiful voice, and the standards are classic material, but this isn't the type of music I really engage with. In terms of musicianship and quality, this is surely higher than a 3, but it doesn't really move me.

2.5/5 - Why did I need to hear this album before I die? I suppose to hear what all the fuss was about. I had no connection to this album in 1998, though I've given it several listens over the last few years. I think it's fine. The hallway chatter interludes annoy me, and most of the album fades into the background for me, with a few strong standouts as the exception.

4/5 - Why do you need to hear this album before you die? So that you can hear exactly what 1995 and 1996 sounded like. This is not a timeless classic. This is a time capsule that you dig up, dust off, and feel all the disillusionment, angst, and GenX attitude wash over you in waves. written and sung by a woman who is flat out going for it, because who gives a flick what you think.

The lyrics are sometimes brilliant, and frequently bad, while Alanis' voice is sometimes perfect and frequently grating, but this is catharsis on compact disc. There's thousands of singer-songwriter records, but few have this specific of a voice for a particular generation. Just sing along. You know the words.

3/5 - Imagine bringing this record home in 1970 with this creepy ass album cover and the opening sounds of the rain and bells. This is a demonic, Halloween MOOD. It’s hard to believe a recording this thick with atmosphere is a debut, but the vision of what they wanted to be is clear.

Like many, I’d probably listen to the follow-up Paranoid (from the same year) any day before heading back to the debut, but “The Wizard” rocks.

4.5 / 5 - Has possibly the best first line on a Song 1, Side 1 of any album, and is also one of the most aptly named albums of all time. The influence of Raw Power is obviously far and wide for the future of punk, but this easily holds up on its own legs with door-blasting energy beyond just being an "influential album."

I had never listened to it all the way through, and I listened to it 4 times in a row. Rounding down only because it's early in the reviews and I need to leave space at the top.

Far too long, but a real survey of “everything George.” I love the uptempo songs with the Spector wall of sound and horns, but could have done without the stoner jam band elements towards the end.

Would repeat listen Holes, Opus 40, and Goddess on a Hiway. Not an album I need to listen to all the way through again.