Reviews by jlazerus

The template for all the hair metal of the eighties, except this actually rocks. Love the dub influence on "Rage", I think that was one of the songs we'd skip when we listened to this as children. Basically a greatest hits. So anthemic, just ridiculous. Iconic.

Intense. Took me half of the first part to get into it, but oncew I did it was completely engaging. Interesting. I love the stories, like on "Let There Be Rock" where he describes not really being into the whole Skynrd thing in high school, he's speaking for me. A great work of art, I will definitely listen again. Love the second part especially... heavier emotion, heavier music. Great stuff.

I can see how this would be popular, but none of the ideas here are new. The extraordinarily twee singing on top of some derivative (but perfectly executed) synth drones became tiresome very quickly. Just go listen to Eurythmics or Yaz.

Not that exciting. "Hello, It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" - which I always thought was a Carol King song, because apparently he was "inspired" by her - are on here. Outside of those it's a lot of messing around in the studio. He plays all the instruments on the first 3 sides, and he is NOT very good at the drums (or the bass for that matter) so this all ends up sounding like polished demos. The side 4, except for the aforementioned hit, is populated by some dubious, immature lyrics that I hope to never hear again. It was okay in the background while i put new wheels on my suitcase, but when I was paying attention, mostly blue-eyed soul and wandering from one genre to another without any real feeling. Self-indulgent.

Intelligent, controlled thrashing on the corner of math rock street and post-hardcore avenue.

Okay this blew me away. Super heavy. Super emotional. Virtuoso playing. Tight. And if you like guitar effects (like I do) you will find this VERY SATISFYING. Haven't enjoyed an album this much since Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter.

Skin has vocal chops FOR DAYS. Confrontational. Heartfelt. Epic, glossy, a true work of art that I wish I had heard at the time and absolutely deserves its place on this list. Pleased to have discovered it.

I didn't hate it, which says a lot for a rap album coming from me. In fact, I thought this was one of the better albums in a while. Really really cool grooves - minimal and almost in the alternative hip hop vein that started emerging in the late 90s. The production is the thing.

I question whether Rap and Hip Hop could technically be called music, when it's more of a audio-based entertainment medium. 🤔🤔🤔

3 thinking faces

"Wishing Well" is genius.

I bought this when it came out after seeing the video on MTV (yep, I am that old - a cultural touchpoint that very few will have the pleasure of knowing). Blown away by the voice and the verve, and I probably read about Terence Trent D'Arby in a printed magazine, seeking music to make my own in a world of Pixies and Nirvana and Urge Overkill, my desperate craving for funky soul drove me to this.

I was conned.

Nothing else on the album is anything even close to the single. It kind of hurt. I listened to this SO MANY TIMES trying to get my money's worth out of it, but alas. Nothing on the disc really compares.

That being said, the dude has a great voice and a penchant for the funky R & B that filled the empty space between Prince albums. And I'm not saying this guy is anything like Prince who is literally a god. I'm just saying, sometimes record company hype can fool even the savvy music enthusiast.

I bought his next album also. Probably the sunk cost fallacy at work.

3 Bork albums?
Bjork never fails to push the boundaries of creativity. This is mostly a capella and is (once again, like her other albums) more of an art piece than pop music.It defies categoriztion. Very heady, if you want something to think about, throw this on. I'll probably listen again at some point, it's odd and heavy and genuine.

The RHCP would be one of the best rock bands of all time, what with their punk rock/Led Zeppelin/Funkadelic meanderings, perfect for the short attention span generation. But then Anthony Keidis ruins everything with his, just, ABJECTLY stupid lyrics. And people make fun of, say, Vanilla Ice for plain old bad rapping. But this is simply awful.

Too long. Leave in stuff like Mellowship Slinky, Funky Monks and Under the Bridge (the best RHCP song - which has to have a choir at the end to hit the high crescendo notes the Keidis totally fails on) and a couple fillers like the Zeppelin/Rush homage The Greeting Song, and you have a classic.

One of the most punk rock hip hop artists. Televiison the Drug of the Nation is iconic. Has some cool funky heaviness to it and a strong not subtle set of messages. Gets a little personal here and there, overall really good consccious hip hop without much positivity.

It's difficult to find words that adequately describe a voice like k. d. lang. It has power. Not like Led Zeppelin's music has power. It's quiet. It really is beauty, the power that beauty has to occupy the mind and land, lightly, on your heart.

25 years ago I would have rejected this whole album. It's so light. So standard, so mature. But my taste has evolved. I'm really impressed by the orchestration, the dynamics, and the compositional perfection that every song seems to have. And the sophistication of the poetry matches that of the music. It's a feat.

And k. d. lang has one of the best voices in recorded music. It doesn't seem real.

The Vines, at least on this album (haven’t heard any others) lack identity. They stray from grunge to britpop to straight power pop to more grunge. Ain’t No Room had me tapping my toes until this bit at the end where the singer copies Kurt Cobain’s signature screaming. The lyrics are dumb, the guitars are too high in the mix, it’s very manufactured. Soulless and contrived, not very memorable. There are a ton of better, more unique bands that were doing all of this ten years prior.

Good old fashioned classic 70s soul. If you enjoy this style you will absolutely love this. Smooth voice, just pleasant to listen. Made my day a little better!

I miss being excited by music sometimes. 😔

Though I generally like metal, I always found Megadeth kind of tedious. Marty Friedman is incredible on this record, though, well worth the listen just for his solos. Toward the end it got kind of samey... fans of the band will fervently disagree. Dave Mustaine's voice is shrill, the tempos are mostly the same, and there's nothing al that unique to latch onto. Like Metallica's dumber little brother. Lacks real anger. Also junkies.

The most amazing dub record outside of Jamaica I have ever heard. I used to be a hater, but I take it all back. Mashing up dub, traditional reggae, ska, rocksteady, a played with some passion. A wee bit like a dark reggae version of General Public without the poppiness. A a deep social consciousness, gives it the authenticity of hardcore reggae in a more palatable form. Love. ❤️

This is a pretty amazing album. Sits PERFECTLY between the psychedelic era and the excesses of the aspirational 70s. This sold SO MANY RECORDS, and that is a bit surprising considering the complexity and artistry of some of these arrangements. Might best be described as Progressive pop.

My only complaint is that STUPID carousel music break in the middle of Spinnin' Wheel.

A couple of songs in and the dude's voice just gave me a visceral cringe feeling. I am not the audience for this, with all due respect. I guess he sells a lot, so that's something. I'm not making it through an hour of this.

Not a bad note on here. Everything works perfectly, and if you're a fan of the post-punk romantic synth duo style (Yaz, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys), then this is canon.

Myself, I'm lukewarm on those other acts. This however is a rock masterpiece. Side one is the lightness and beauty of Love. Side two exposes the dark underbelly of it. Annie Lennox brings a power and soul to what could easily slip into cheesiness in the wrong hands, thematically and sonically.

"Love Is a Stranger," "I Could Give You a Mirror," and "Jennifer" make the hair on my arms stand up. Everything else is equally intense, beautiful, and perfectly executed.

Props to Dave Stewart for making a massive musical statement.