Reviews by jlazerus

The Stones keep doing this "funky Americana" thing, vacillating between Gospel, Soul, straight blues, country, bluegrass... I mean, it's good, the band is tight but spontaneous (for the most part - I think they play up the sloppiness a bit to the detriment of the tunes), Keith Richards is always excellent. But it's more of the same since they started, this one has a little more orchestration. They're kind of poseurs, though. I guess they were the original Blues Poseurs™. Paves the way for a lot of fairly mediocre stuff to come later like the Black Crowes and Creed.

Doesn't suck but a bit long.

Gimme something without Kanye West on it.

Oof

I had to listen to Physical Graffiti again to get the taste of this out of my mouth. How can this garbage be on the same list as Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" or even "Homework" by Daft Punk?

It sounds exactly like what this cover looks like: childish, contrived, soulless - the look on that dude's face says it all. I guess it's supposed to remind me of the 80's, but I was around in the eighties and it was NOT like this. And thank god for that.

Shockingly, this person has won 3 Grammys, which I guess says more about the Grammys than it does about this guy.

Starts strong, finishes strong, keeps it interesting throughout. There are some surprisingly modern touches in a sound that can too easily disintegrate into pure tropes. For instance, the guitar/synth solo on "Boxcars" or the lyrics on "Fingernails (which I swear Marty Stuart covers) or "West Texas Waltz."

Stays true to the Honky Tonk sound, as far as I know it. Accordions, steel guitar, fiddle... it's the Western in "Country and Western." Feels sincere and unapologetic, not trying to be popular, just trying to be what it is.

Up front I will say that as an ENO fan, my bias will skew this review. Responsible for no less than 5 of my favorite albums (Devo's "Are We Not Men?", Talking Heads' "Fear of Music," Bowie's "Low" and "Heroes," and U2's "Joshua Tree") Eno's contribution to music can't be understated.

This album nicely bridges his earlier solo work with the ambient era. Every song is different stylistically: from the proto-ambient "Zawinul/Lava" and "Little Fishes" to the Beach Boyish experiment "Everything Merges with the Night."

Challenging and still listenable. Creatively courageous. Eclectic, and BONUS Phil Collins appearance!

Really tight uptempo new-wave pop. Mostly nonsensical lyrics, a state which adds to the entertainment. Some interesting deep cuts. Mostly fun and spontaneous, and I kinda hate to say it, but I think "Save a Prayer" is a good song. If I were teaching a class about this era, I would use this song as an example.

None more black.

The song "Ray of Light" is ok. The EDM framework is ok, sometimes even danceable. Madonna is not a great singer, though. And if you've heard one semi-naughty boy/girl song you've heard them all. I couldn't finish it, it's an hour-plus, and I know what the rest will be like. Small moments of interest but nothing thoroughly exceptional here.

The "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" is not 42, as previously thought. It is, in fact:

Keep on Chooglin'

Never heard Tim Buckley before, heard a lot about him. Impressive voice. A couple of these songs didn't hurt me much to listen to but really don't age very well - especially the post-hippie jam Gypsy Woman. "Cast a spell on me, mama!" Yikes. Mostly vamping, lots of vibes (vibraphones that is, maybe it's a marimba), lots of jazz adjacent chords, pretty, subdued. It's really about this dude's voice though. Probably should hear before you die. Definitely of its time, that being the come-down off of the trip that was the psychedelic era. Like a lot of other 70's handsome boy singer-songwriter stuff. My divorced mom would have loved this back in '75.

Disc One - FUNK
Disc Two - MYSTICAL PROG
Disc Three - heavy folk
Disc Four - A Grab bag o' blues
If you make it through the whole thing you are rewarded with the tasty treat that is "Sick Again."

Zeppelin's more "mystical" stuff is better entertainment than the prettier love songs for me. "Houses of the Holy," "Kashmir," and "In the Light" stand alone as a post-psychedelic excursion into other worlds, atmospheric, swirling, immense. Only Down By the Seaside leaves me wanting, and Ten Years Gone is a bit of a toss-off. But Led Zeppelin's toss-off is a thoudand other bands greatest possible achievement. This album is another monumental piece of work, a great bridge to their later more polished stuff.

Great voice, the songs left a bad taste in my mouth though. Just... not for me, I suppose. Some interesting bits but nothing I want to bring into my future. Not relatable enough for me and toward the end everything started to sound a bit the same, with a couple exceptions that I don't really care to review.

I love that The Cure went back to being heavy. The Cure have a unique sound. The downtuned bass drone, echoey tomtom-driven drums, melodic minor key single note guitar picking, Robert Smith's sort of moaning vocals. Moody. Definitely goth. Maybe, for me, a little too introspective, a little too hopeless, too backward looking.

Nice job doing that, though! Again, bring me the serious heaviness with a bit less moping. The hookier tunes are the best on here. Sorry Robert Smith didn't like being popular, The Cure's popular stuff is better. "Pictures of You,' "Lovesong," "Lullaby," and "Fascination Street" raise all the other ships, not to say all the others would sink the album. Bit of a downer.

I didn't realize I was such a Nick Drake fan. And it turns out I'm late to the party, but better late thatn never.

Some of the saddest music I've come across, executed with maturity and an elegant sincerity I've also rarely come across. Really brilliant. Needs more listens.

Some say George Jones was the best country singer ever and this album does not present any evidence to the contrary! Short and sweet, funny, sad, lots of pedal steel and violins. Traditional Country that modern day singers try and mostly fail to emulate.

I mean, with The Smiths, you're always going to get high quality art. And this is their highest quality album.

There's a reason Johnny Marr is considered one of the great guitaristas (yes I just invented the word). It's all very pristine, Morrisey's poetry is at its most sublime, his voice at its most confident, velvety, amiable even. The production is exquisite. The songwriting is engaging - fully embracing their best impulses. The Beatlesque "Death of a Disco Dancer" is deft. "Girlfriend in a Coma" follows in a similar string-fueled vein, a kind of lovely verse-chorus ballad that exists in the Jam's shadow a bit. Everything that follows pulls you in as well. Unhappy Birthday, so clever, the sort of song you unconsciously invent on your way to making toast, musically charming and lyrically difficult. Good stuff.

Much of the album swashbuckles its way into that self-pitying inner dialog the Smiths mastered. At times the poking witticisms feel forced. Overall The Smiths have their own atmosphere, foggy, British. It looks back, to last night or the 50's in an organic way. I just want them to rock a little harder, and for Morrisey to feel what he's singing a little harder. You know what I mean. Make me feel it also.

This week's discs were 100MPH of intensity: Santana's "Abraxas", Talking Heads' "Remain in Light", Adele's "21," and Nirvana's "Unplugged," not to mention the Slits! Maybe because I listened to the latter four all on the same day. Maybe it's the combination of that and winter and the sheer frustration of living in America in 2025. Maybe it's the fact that my house is constantly under construction and I feel powerless to make it stop.

I almost started to cry today, man. All Apologies was a gut-punch.

Then, just when you're ready to just give up, Green Onions comes on and everything seems like it's gonna be OK. The first thing I ever played on the drums. Steve Cropper's semi-surf guitar. That walking rhythm. Let it go on forever.

This is WAY better than I thought it was going to be, mostly because I only know of Adele from the hype. What a great voice. Such excellent songwriting, blistering intensity tempered with some beautiful smoothness. Big production. Great musicianship, but doesn't overshadow the singer. Usually not my cup of stylistic tea, but I was bowled over.

Textbook English post-punk. Haters are annoyed by this for various reasons, mainly because they think it's about them. Which it is.

Offbeat, inventive, often difficult, Cut is easy to dismiss at first listen. It's really not intended to be easily digested. You have to accept this fact into your heart. It'smeant tochallenge the status quo, whther it be in Love, music, family, government, capitalism, pick your poison. It elegantly opposes musical conventions. This attitude doesn't go down easy. But like contemporaries Gang of Four, PiL, possibly Crass (!), The Slits do the courageous work of tearing down the establishment. I said courageous and I meant it. Easy for snot-nosed punks to fly in the face of expectations. Now women are doing it, and that's probably what's bothering you. Take some time for self-reflection.

Also Bjork sounds like Ari Up.

I remember seeing it live when it first came out on MTV, thinking about how it was a stupid idea to make Nirvana play acoustically. Doesn't make sense. I suppose that's why most of this album is covers - that and the fact that Nirvana loved to do covers.

This recording - with all of the conversations and quips between songs, the musical choices, Kurt Cobain's often faltering voice - is a document of his misplaced insecurity. If one allows oneself to ruminate on that, or the myriad other pains that come from being alive, then all that's left is nihilism, bitterness, disgust with oneself.

We are never going to separate the art from the artist in the case of Nirvana. Selfishly, I imagine an alternate reality where he was somehow slightly less tortured. I want to enjoy the art, instead of it feeling like watching a car crash. I have no such morbid curiosity. And I do wish Kurt Cobain had just 1% more resilience. He was a musical genius. It seems like the stuff he left behind was a sketch, the real art was yet to come. Because of that, for me, Nirvana is always heart wrenching to listen, no matter how brilliant.

Setting all of that aside, the album is a bit of a rollercoaster. You can just FEEL the disdain at having to play the "hits," which really brings the whole thing down. You can tell he is not well mentally or physically, exhausted. That energy blankets the entire album. The moments where he gives it some love, or uses the music to try and explain his tortured soul - Pennyroyal Tea, Apologies, Pines - are some of the most astonishing moments in rock music.

It's not the best performance. Nirvana just doesn't work very well in the "unplugged" framework. The whole idea is a little tongue-in-cheek. By this point, Kurt Cobain was sick of it all and had enough. Which sucks for all of us.