Reviews by jlazerus

Fantastic. The great lost Bowie album. So much good stuff on here it’s difficult to know where to start. Strangely intimate and … vulnerable? It’s cool, you should check it out.

Big dumb rawk, iconic vocalist, guitar in your face at all times. What's not to love. Catchy as hell too.

Got halfway through the self indulgent elementary guitar lesson “How Does it Feel” before wanting to rip the headphones out and crush them in a violent rage when I stopped myself, realizing it isn’t the headphones fault that this is awful. How does it feel? Feels pretty annoying man! That could have been 2 minutes.
Then “Revolution!” Holy shit 💩 these childish lyrics! “I’m so sick of people trying to tell meI can or can’t do with my life!” Then he shouts “Revolution! “ and the CROWD GOES CRAZY!
Gimme a break. Also stop with the talking. Mostly unlistenable derivative garbage. Make a song.
One extra star for the instrumental “Suicide” which was still a two note space jam that no one asked for.

Juvenile and dirty a lot but the beats are tight (? Can I say “tight”? Is that a thing the hipster hoppers would say? Possibly “dope” or “fresh”). Pretty fun not excessively obsessed with being victimized, vilified, or otherwise guilty without being tried. In a trial that is, a jury of your peers, something America hasn’t had for years.

But I digress. This is funny and cool but like I said a little dirty at times.

If the Rolling Stones were from Detroit and you set a couple mics up in a garage. The extended jams like “We Will Fall” don’t want work as well as “…Dog” or “1969”. Weirder than I thought it would be. The John Cale influence is evident, “Ann” could be a VU song. Absolute through-line to The Ramones. Cool and weird.

Better than I remember. Inventive and bass-heavy, much like the early Cure. Siouxsie is a unique talent, kind of a foundational alternative rock disc, before that was a genre.

For me this is like ABBA. If you don’t like it you don’t like having fun. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.

That was pretty not bad. The recording was mushy, but there was enough punk attitude to get past my completely unfounded gatekeeping about who gets to call themselves “punk.” Additional points for the female-fronted band, the jaunty saxophone solo over the darkest themes on “I Live Off You,” and the very obvious hat tip to the Pistols. Someone is definitely exploiting someone here, I just can’t tell who’s exploiting who.

A killer line from GPT while trying to make my grammar here more readable: "Poly Styrene especially feels oddly predictive now. Half the album sounds like she foresaw influencer culture, microplastics, branding as identity, and the psychological effects of fluorescent supermarkets."

Now piss off

Not on Apple Music apparently. And from the reviews it looks as though I really DON’T need to hear this before I die s I will give it the average review and get it off my list.

Left me just a hair's breadth away from loving it. Mostly because of the melodies, dreamy and familiar. Alison Goldfrapp has a lovely voice, a bit twee. Might listen to this again. Was not blown away but wasn't painful, either.

Sinatra once again disappoints, although Jobim saves this. Mostly sleepy. Just listen to the Getz/Gilberto album.

I understand why this was so popular, although Madonna's (if that IS her real name!) voice annoys me. I like some of the stuff on here: "Love Song" with Prince, "Oh Father", and that weirdo at the end "Act of Contrition." Which if you let the album loop around and start again, meshes strangely well with the intro to Like a Prayer. I hate myself for liking this as much as I do. Especially "Express Yourself."

Took a minute to get used to. Eventually came around to this leftist synth-pop gem. Thematically a bit like Gang of Four but more early eighties Cold War anxiety. A bit strange with a little Devo influence I think (Are Everything or Height of Fighting). And a lot of Human League influence obviously. Walls the fine line between annoying and fascinating. Height of drum machine mania, a post-punk classic.

Like a series of Roxy Music demos. Uncertain Smile is great, but the rest suffers from that trendy droll, synth-pop vocal style and drum emulation that elicits a mild cringiness for me.

Moments of greatness. Haunting, unique, fascinating. Elizabeth Fraser's voice demands attention. Felt like walking around on a foggy afternoon just before the sun goes down. Has a Siouxsie or Cure vibe, but less restrained by the verse/chorus/bridge musical form. Like a proto-Portisehead.

Great emotion and a unique and beautiful voice. She successfully bridges sorrow filled traditional country with a more modern vibe. Great execution, fine instrumentation and songwriting with a killer little block of covers - Coat of Many Colors and For No One - make this an interesting listen.

I was going to say “like George Jones but not as dark!” Then I heard “Life in Prison!” 🙀

Not my favorite type of Country. That is, a little too corny and there’s a lot of tropes. Some nice playing obviously, Glen Campbell is on here and there’s shades of the Bakersfield sound some proto-rockin’-country that seems like the only thing I heard in the 90s. It’s alright, Haggard has a nice voice, and some of the songs evoke the later outlaw country trend. Too polished for me though.

Ugggghhh do I have to?

God these posers are SO OVERRATED. Even "I Will Dare" is a complete rip off of the The Vandals or some bad Neil Young song. Also you named your album "Let It BE?" WTF
Man I hate the Replacements. Ugh.

Punk Rock. And if you like that one note that Lemmy “sings” you’ll love this. Oh yeah it has Ace of Spades.

Thje best Hendrix album. One of the greatest albums of all time. A monster. And Hendrix's influence, like Miles Davis, can not be underrated. ALL rock music you like, from Pearl Jam to Prince, has some Hendrix in them. RIP