Reviews by john

Some pretty far out stuff for the mid 70’s. Masterful use of relatively unexplored synthesizers at the time make this all sound so cutting edge for it’s year of release. I can listen to something like a Rival Consoles album from our current decade and point to some similarities to Phaedra.

The opening title track kinda has it all; suspense, melody, meditative progression, great foundational atmosphere. It’s not just that it sounds like a sci-fi thriller score, it’s that it is composed in such a fashion that you feel like you’re the subject in that sci-fi thriller. Prolonged and calculated composition choices, like the change in sounds just after 10 minutes into the song. Man, this could induce a bad trip if you were on the wrong substances.

White noise swells were an endearing, more classical touch to open up “Mysterious Semblance”. A song which, with the fidelity of its recording technology, gives a very cool sonic texture to those string sounds that take over the song in the early going. Funny to think how this track has tropes that would carry over into the dance music of the 2000’s and beyond. Those white noise swells are so Avicii, the modulation of the phaser/flanger effect about 3 minutes in is so Daft Punk. By these definitions, Tangerine Dream were way ahead of their time. “Movements Of A Visionary” didn’t grab me until its second half, but the dueling synths made it worth the wait. They landed the song with a care and attentiveness I wasn’t expecting during the last minute.

“Sequent C” though. That’s where the money is made. WOW. A song that reminds me a bit of Aphex Twin’s “#3” in that it’s echoey and evocative pallet makes you forget you’re listening to programmed electronic sounds. It’s more like you’re placed in some sort of deserted cave where ancient creatures gathered for alien religion worship. A beautiful, solemn, surprisingly purposeful song. Even though it’s the shortest, it’s easily my favorite.

I love that this album is way the hell out in the deep, experimental corner left field, but is also made tactfully enough to still have some conventional touchstones in its sounds (whirly moog synths here, swampy creature sound effects there) to reel the audience in on an active listen - which I recommend you do if you get the chance. I can’t blame people for losing patience with Phaedra, but if you give it your full attention it pays off in spades. VERY cool record, 4/5

A big ol’ meh fest, especially in contrast to the generational run of albums Ive been on the past month or so. Try as I might, I can never escape the sad British guy music for too long.

“In A Different Place” was alright, but I was good as done halfway through the album.

2/5

This album is like eating awesome candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - and not suffering any consequences from it. It's so unashamed of itself and bombastic that you're forced into adoring it. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes endearing, always full of bravado. Meat Loaf's bleeding heart is on full display, even if it's bedazzled and done up in leather pants, surrounded by theatrical riffs, he can't help but put his full heart into these performances. I know Todd Rundgren has multiple albums on this list, but his greatest contribution has to be producing this record. Hats off to Jim Steinman for handing pure gold over to Meat Loaf in this handful of tracks.

"Bat Out Of Hell" has the same hopeful, bright-eyed, yearning qualities that the best Bruce Springsteen songs have, just multiplied into a soaring rockestra ballad. Meatloaf sings at times with fervor overtop loads of instrumentation, then at other times sings with a tender vibrato, accompanied only by a piano.

"You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" Is even more endearing and more corny all at once. Is he just horny in a verbose, flashy fashion? Yeah. "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" triples down on that (nothing more needs to be said about it, the song speaks for itself). But he's making glamorous art out of it all. YTTWROOMM has easily one of the most sticky vocal hooks too, the way he sings the title of the track. I have more or less had this hook stuck in my head all my life. He knew the value of the gem he had too, the way he closes out the song just repeating that hook over and over again. Wonderful pop songwriting, equally as wonderful performance. While it's not as impactful, "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad" follows the same format of a long story that comes to a head with a super simple, wildly catchy title hook.

"Heaven Can Wait" runs it back but with, you guessed it, a slight gospel skew to the arrangement. Then it's a slightly more groovy, saxophone angle on "All Revved Up With No Place To Go".

Quick sidenote before I get into my rating: the music videos on youtube are hilarious. Just an up-close filming of him & his band performing this to nobody, a trope I'm coming to understand was a video trend for a time in the 70's. Surely Jack Black has his whole career thanks in part to Meatloaf. A portly, sweaty man toeing the line between theatrical acting and making a fool of himself all in the form of a rock ballad? Totally laid the blueprint out for Jack Black. Upon further reading, I was spot on with this comparison - Meat Loaf is in Tenacious D's "Kickapoo".

My first listen of this one was at 9pm, right as the new album populated. I had to pull a page out of "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" - 'lemme sleep on it', I told myself. I listened again in the morning. 'Is This a 5/5?' I asked myself. Surely I need to stop handing out 5's, thisll be the 5th in a month!! But I thinks it's a 5/5. It doesnt have a single miss. "For Crying Out Loud" leaves the listener on such a sweet note - a song about *pure love*. Even when he's horny, even when he's melodramatic, even when he's all too campy, I think Meatloaf exudes that *pure love* in his heart-on-sleeve performances which sound too big to have been captured in a vocal booth. I'm guessing most of us would love to act a little more like Meatloaf in some of these songs, proud to belt out their truest feelings for the world to hear.

Continuing the month-long process of demystifying the 5/5. I’ll never have an album be more stuck in my head than this one

Occasionally successful at breaking the British rock/new wave mold. Sometimes getting too lost in the silly sauce.

An opening “Dog Eat Dog” had me gleaming with hope for this record. So much pizzazz in a first song. But alas, a slow descent into fun but predictable songs would follow. The syncopated percussion is cool on first listen, but it’s used enough to feel a little boring by the end.

“Dont Be Square (Be There)” was a little breath of fresh air. ‘Ant music for sex people, sex music for and people’ is a line worth getting to in the tracklisting.

I feel like a visual accompaniment would carry this thing a bit further, I’m sure he’s got some goofy music videos. Otherwise a soft 3/5

I don't need to do much research to know that this was George's big stepping out album. I'm sure that with the dissolution of the Beatles he'd felt free to make this thing the way he wanted. I wish he'd been a bit more selective though. Even without the bonus material, the album as a whole is a bit drawn out. Many of the songs sort of wear out their welcome. That's not to say this album is boring in it's entirety, but I was good and done with it around "I Dig Love".

While everyone knows "My Sweet Lord" for fair reason, I think Harrison really finds his voice on "Isn't It A Pity". This kinda feels like his version of John Lennon's "Mind Games" in that they both dig deep and come up with incredible performances (both songs with similar tempos and compositions too). Ever the "spiritual" Beatle, there's lots of songs holding similar themes on this record: celebrating love, contemplating how human conflict could ever happen, a sprinkling of existentialism.

"What Is Life" sounds like George had been holding this one in his pocket for at least 5 years based on its sound. It's upbeat with a harmonic vocal chorus about love. I could hear it being a Beatles song now.

"Behind That Locked Door" was a life-saver for me, with a bit of a switchup in it's sonic choices. I think the slide guitar is PERFECT on this track. I wish for more variation like this, it all added to the humble, endearing nature I know George Harrison is tapped into when he's at his best.

"Awaiting You All" felt like the only time Harrison really broke out of the wavelength he settled into, actually putting some strain on his vocal delivery. Once again, I'm left wishing for a bit more choices like this, even if I found this particular song to be a bit forgettable.

As I said before, I was tapped out by this point in the record. It made the last three songs, which actually found that higher energy once more, seem like a slog.

I can't find anything expressly *wrong* about this record, but only a few of it's obvious songs standout in the field of it's contemporaries. At it's best, it pairs grounded sentiments with easy-to-swallow music, and at it's worst it wore me down a bit. 3/5

Awestruck within the first five seconds. Such a pure, pretty, and sometimes tender voice.

“The Retreat Song” smacked me right in the face, she sings with such pride in the opening stanza. Then the guitar passage comes in and I can swear you hear the smile on Makena’s face. The chorus of voices floats in behind her and I was floating off to somewhere much sunnier, much more colorful.

“Holilili” played the same card to great effect, with the gentle call & response of Miriam Makeba and a backing chorus fading in and out behind her. When they sing together halfway through the song, it’s chills. I don’t need to understand any lyrics here, there’s a clarity and shimmer to it all that just makes me smile.

“Mbube” unravels in a way that made me so happy to realize I was listening to a take on “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and it’s somehow brighter than the original! That’s not the only cover, “House Of The Rising Sun” is equally as captivating.

Miriam Makeba adds a fascinating second face to a few songs toward the end of this record. “Naughty Little Flea” is an English-speaking cut thats just kinda fun for the sake of fun. But “One More Dance” is the one that’ll stick with me. Charles Colman’s constant, hysterical laughter through a song about the subjects husband dying while they dance their days away - it’s borderline insane in the best way possible. It’s a type of laughter that reminds me of the joker in some of the better Batmans. I don’t think a lot of songs in 1960 had this type of avant-garde character to them.

I feel like im giving out 5's as if they were candy. What is this, like four 5 stars in a month or so? A slew of 4 stars in there as well? What is happening to me?? If I look at current stats, I'm on pace to have about 5% of albums rated be 5/5's, so maybe it isn't so crazy. Anyways, this album is just so beautiful, emotive, and pure of heart. It's yet another 5/5

Technically, there’s only one Wu-Tang album on this list. Technically. There seems to be an endless supply of projects by individual WTC members, though. All abound with collaborations and posse raps with the other WTC members. I’m feeling a little exhausted by these solo-but-not-solo projects. You can practically hear me sighing.

The end of “Gold” and its transition into “Cold World” was the first time I felt like this album did something that made it stand out from its counterparts.

Best production goes to either “4th Chamber” or “Hells Wind Staff”. Some sinister, clean beats that loop well over 3-4 minutes.

It’s very hard to get to granular about this project since there are many like it on the list. I suppose there’s some merit in this one not being as outwardly sexist. Lyrics are a bit more on the conscious side. Idk other than that.

This must be how people feel about house music. Light 3/5

Album 800 is a wonderful fever dream. If angels ever come down from some heaven to sing, this must be what it’ll sound like.

The cyclical, loopy nature of “Pitch The Baby” is one major part of this albums surreal aura. Another part is the perfect, echoey vocal runs. I CANNOT get the “Heaven or Las Vegaaaaaas” line out of my head. How infectious.

How about that synth melody at the end of “Fotzepolitic”?? Total blissed-out maximalism. That same all-in approach reaches a climax on “Frou-frou Foxes”, taking everything we’ve learned from this album and throwing it all into the pot. Looping, layered vocal melodies. Shoegaze guitar patterns and colorful instrumentation. It’s all here.

This record presents itself as a set of ethereal feelings as much as it does a list of tracks. I’m a sucker for albums like this which provide a sense of bliss and catharsis. I listened to this thing 3 times by 10am. Originally, I did this because I was on the fence about what score to give. But by the third listen I’d just given in and lost myself in all the colors and textures The Cocteau Twins threw my way. 5/5

Usually a 3/5 represents some tacit acceptance. A rolling over, an admittance that “this was ok, I didn’t feel too strongly about it one way or the other”. This is not one of those 3/5’s.

"Sea Song" had me irritated as all hell, and planted the seed for a few notions that hold true for the entire album, despite it getting better in it's later songs.
First, Wyatt's voice actively brings this project down a peg anytime he chooses to sing. He's shrill and confused, and not in a charming way.
Second, this album is like the sandbox for a sound Brian Eno would make good on with Another Green World. AGW holds the same sense of dreamlike whimsy and executes on so many different ideas, while Rock Bottom often flounders in it's wandering nature.

Luckily, as I mentioned before, sometimes Wyatt wanders into something cool as the album plays out. The way "A Last Straw" descends out in the last minute gives the listener a true sense of teleporting into the next song. And that next song is, thank the heavens, actually pretty engaging! The horns and piano that twirl around the listeners ears come together for a very organic, earthy soundscape. Once again, Robert Wyatt didnt need to really say anything, but he did.

"Alifib" perhaps most sounds like a cut from the aforementioned Another Green World. Soft, slightly electronic, with some gentle guitar noodling fading in and out of frame. "Alife" straightens things out and heightens the tension, only for "Little Red Robin Hood Hit The Road" to end things in a way so peculiar that it couldve only come from this album. I'm not even sure what accent he's going for at the end.

Robert Wyatt is admirable in his experimentation, but ultimately gets a little too bloody trying to break through the walls of experimentation. I feel completely polarized. 3/5

“The Glorious Land” is as pretty as pretty as can be. While much of this music could be filed under “period piece”, this song is the real distillation of its vision.

Her vocal on “Battleship Hill” is mystifying, especially after she was singing a while octave lower for most songs before. I really enjoyed this song, maybe the best on the album.

The somber melody of “In The Dark Places” was super catchy too. So many pockets of excellent writing like that, scattered around this record - like the delicate way “Hanging In The Wire” resolves it vocal melody.

Some incredible work as always for PJ Harvey, and shes the right person to do well by a concept like this. Maybe not my favorite stuff shes ever put out, but still super solid. Soft 4/5

Just an unreal voice. It’s like she couldn’t miss a note if she tried. Her ability to flex her voice as a trained muscle blows me away. She can be in a speaking voice delivery and the jump an octave with serious conviction, all instantaneously.

I really liked the bossa nova & soul crossover on “Dont Let Me Lose This Dream”. I’m not sure the material on the Shaft soundtrack did that genre fusion as well as Aretha did here.

I went through this whole album in such awe of her voice that it was hard to critically think about much else. I don’t know if there’s been a project on this list in recent memory where the vocal talent has single-handed my carried it to greatness. The song material isn’t bad, there’s enough variation in composition, but it’s all about Aretha Franklins performance. 4/5

Well, that opening song is certainly worth an attentive ear. Here I was thinking this would be another mindless headbanger as far as lyrical content goes, but then a very vivid song about Auschwitz experiments hits me in the face. The fairly descriptive, fleshed-out lyrics would continue for most of the album, but would dip into more typical themes, like on “Altar Of Sacrifice”.

I can hear the exact reasons why this album is great, and I respect each reason. The sonics and recording work are superb. Drums are full and relentless, the guitar distortion is heavy, the atmosphere is dreadful and dire. The composition trims all the fat, holding the listeners focus with all sorts of new riffs thrown around - as someone whos a bit allergic to most things metal (I have all sorts of modern dubstep/riddim to fill that hole), these quick tracks are what I appreciate the most. The chaotic ending puts a bow on the package here. It could be a 4 or even 5 if I personally relished listening to metal more. I don’t, so it’s a 3/5, but I recognize the greatness. I wish for a moment or two of silence and melody, but it’s all good

What you see is what you get here. Mid 2000’s Beck album, plenty of quirky musical ideas with Beck’s somewhat deadpan, instantly recognizable delivery.

“E-Pro” felt a bit like a rehashing of what made “Loser” such a hit. I did really like Que’ Onda Guero though. Very funky, silly story over a chunky beat.

I was so sure I was listening to the voice of Chris Cornell, not Beck, on “Missing”.

Speaking on musical connections, “Earthquake Weather” sounds so much like an early Gorillaz song. Hazy and textured, rinsed with a slight raggae/dub quality to it.

“Broken Drum” is pretty powerful. The little guitar melody that bookends every little stanza is so sticky. “Go It Alone” is just as sticky too.

This is close to a 4/5 for me, and I wouldn’t blame you for giving it that score, but I’m just not super blown away by Beck’s voice. It sometimes felt too cumbersome and hampered down some otherwise cool production choices. Solid 3/5

Been waiting for this one for a long time now. An album that gets a ton of hate on this list for being something very far from rock. This probably went crazy in the UK clubs in the 2000’s. Wobbly basslines and two-step drum patterns abound. I do think the synth preset soundfonts are a bit of an acquired taste for headphone listening, but that all goes out the window when it gets played on a dance floor.

“Introduction” was a lovely first impression. A self-serious piano melody floats over a bunch of classic UKG production. This is what you’re strapped in for.

I was looking for some of those synthetic string plucks, and I finally heard a distorted form of them on “Attitude”. Such a classic UKG touch.

Elizabeth Troy fills that garage vocalist roll, being somewhat soulsful, somewhat airy. Danny Vicious fills the garage MC role just as well.

The end of “Sanctuary” into the beginning of “I See” we’re a great tempo change right when it was needed.

I’d say “Crazy Love” and “Sincere” are my favorites here. “Free My Mind” was a perfect lounge-house outro. A very clean sound.

I gotta stand up for this album 4/5

Courtney Love’s voice steals the show, which is saying a lot because the instrumentation is often solid on here as well.

“Violet” blew me away as an opening track. I can see why she and Kurt Cobain went so well together in at least one aspect: her voice has that same harmonic chainsaw quality to it. She sings with such a sharpness, but still hits every note right where it’s needed.

I loved the first part of “Credit In A Straight World”. It was a needed little switch in composition/approach right at the perfect time. Beautiful track sequencing.

“She Walks On Me” - holy shit! The ability to turn on the screaming voice mode and then dice right back into more mellow, melodic singing. I’m impressed.

Last shoutout is to the closer “Rock Star”, on the ever-relatable feeling of thinking you’re not the same as any other kids in high school. Maybe this was actually true a bit more for Courtney Love. Either way, I too went to a school in Washington and used my taste in music to leverage the angsty ideology that I wasn’t the same as most kids too. Funny.

Though this hit me as a 3/5 on first listen, I know that I’ll go back and in my heart of hearts feel like this is more 4/5

I’m out of my depth here but I don’t need a technical grasp of the sax or a lengthy mental library to know this was ahead of its time.

Any musician who is comfortable enough with his work to add in compositional moments of near-silence after minutes of crazed instrumentation is in his bag. It was so captivating to hear this technique being employed about eight minutes in to part 3. I think it’s the moment that sticks with me the most, that upright bass solo just kinda faded into view out of nowhere.

Easy 4/5 for me and I don’t blame anyone who thinks this project is perfect

Ahhh yes the Byrds. I almost forgot about them. It must’ve been a few hundred albums ago since the last Byrds project and I was ready to call it quits on them by that time. Have I rinsed myself of Byrds fatigue? Not really, but this album being amongst their most pleasant certainly helped.

There’s a fine line between “this is easy on the ears” and “alright I’m bored” and these guys tend to hop back and forth over that line, from song to song. Incredibly sweet vocal harmonies on my favorite of the bunch, “The Bells Of Rhymney”. A contemplative song that seems to be a perfect representative of some of the social sentiments of its era.

On the other hand, most every song sounds inoffensive and similar. I know this was an especially impressive presentation of rock and pop music at the time, but hindsight makes this thing a bit of a snoozer for me. As is the case with most rock from the 60’s, the Beatles clear this project. It’s a standard that (sometimes unfairly) nullifies all other similar music. But I can’t help it.

2/5? Light 3/5? Let’s go with that and send a prayer to the 1001 albums list gods — please let me be done with The Byrds.

Sleeper hidden gem alert!

Psychobilly, when done right, has to be one of the coolest evolutions of any sound. I'm sure that most bands doing rockabilly/psychobilly in the 80's and beyond grew up on American rock progenitors like Elvis. To be able to essentially play the same genre of music, but with an aesthetic twist and sonic iteration, must've been a thrill. The Cramps kill it on here.

Immediately I thought about how much this guy sounds like the lead singer for The B52's. I liked the way "Garbageman" steamrolls forward with that constant kick and snare going. Then "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" is a classic deserving all the praise it gets. I adore the echo and reverb combo that creates something like a haunting vibrato effect on the lead vocal.

"Mad Daddy" is hysterical in its delivery of a very classic 50's rock-on-the-dancefloor sound, once again just flipped on its head to become something more gothic altogether. "Tear It Up" revisits this method with just as much success towards the end of the original tracklisting.

Then that cover of "Fever" to close it out! Total slam dunk!! The insidious, creeping, ocassionally offbeat delivery had me enraptured. Coupled with instrumentation that's minimal 90% of the time, then spastic 10% of the time. Wonderful.

Loved this. It falls just short of a 5/5 for me, I think some variation in vocal delivery or song structure could've pushed it over the edge. But for these guys to be one of the first ones through the wall for psychobilly music? An incredible feat. Wildly captivating. It's late April as I review this, but it sounds like Halloween in my ears

Underworld carved out a career by mastering the sounds of warehouse techno and bringing it to the masses.

“Juanita: Kiteless” doesn’t pull punches as an opening song. It’s successfully hypnotic, peppered with acidic synth arps, syncopated hats, and frenetic little melodies that fade in and out of consciousness. 12 minutes in, this all gives way to a heavenly loop acting as a beautiful way to outro the song.

“Banstyle/Sappys Curry” felt like rain after a drought in the context of the electronic music selection in this list. So often Ive been disappointed by some lackluster dance music selections this list has to offer, and many times Ive referenced Chicane’s “Far From The Maddening Crowds” as a better listen - much more cutting edge with an actual sense for how to apply melody to a dance floor setting. Well my prayers have been answered with Banstyle! It’s got a jungle tempo with a subtle, pleasing percussion loop thats not nearly as heavy-handed as an Amen Break. The Sappys Curry side of this track presents a halftime switchup that seems to chug along in slow motion, accompanied by some instrumentation that I could only call ‘Indian trip-hop”. A funky set of synth chords lifts this thing up to a very colorful, fade-out ending.

At this point in the record, I was adoring the commitment to each idea Underworld took on. This commitment continues on “Confusion The Waitress”, which wields a very classic Underworld sound. A jumpy but hypnotic drum pattern and a warbly, wiggly synth under some nonsensical spoken lyrics.

“Rowla” feels a bit more like a “Born Slippy” song on impact: uplifting and super high-energy. It’s got one little motif to play on loop and you’re gonna like it through all its saturation and oscillations.

“Pearls Girl” was right down my alley. A jumpy breakbeat pattern jolts out of the harmonic intro. The low-end sounds like some of the best stuff The Prodigy put out on Fat Of The Land. More added nonsensical lyrics that all mesh into one chaotic loop around the 6 minute mark.

The last few songs that follow take things in a very interesting direction. “Air Towel” might be the weakest yet smoothest cut on this album. I can hear this song playing excellently as a 2000’s car game main menu song, or a still-daylight bar/lounge jam. But I do think what’s meant to be a bit of reprieve on this song turns into a bit of staleness. Still, a neat little song.

What was MUCH more neat and WAY more little was the following “Blueski”. I felt aa though I’d been tricked by this one. A cunning guitar loop that plays on…and on…and on. All the while, I’m getting so very excited for a four-to-the-floor kick or snappy breakbeat loop (or both) to punch me in the face. But then, it doesn’t. Honestly I kinda liked the tease of it all. I could in my head make up the ways this melody could unfold into a full club mover. But it didn’t have to!

Last is “Stagger”, which feels like a bit of a credits roll song. Stretched out percussion, a mellow bit of synth programming, and more of those nonsensical lyrics play things out in a way that make you feel like you stepped out of the club/warehouse you’d just survived in.

This feels a bit like I’m using my one time for a more personal 5/5. I can tell you this isn’t a ‘perfect’ album for many reasons. This might not even be Underworld’s best project. I like some of their other songs. “Two Weeks Off” is very blissful. “Cowgirl” is a total mastery of its art form and should be listened to ASAP.
But damn, this record is good. It’s commitment to an idea and effectiveness at getting a dance floor moving WHILE maintaining a fairly wide scope of accessibility — it’s all there. 5/5 for the second day in a row!!!

This was straight up beautiful and often subversive.

You know those two brothers from the UK that wrote most of the GTA games? To me, this album presents itself in a similar way: “Money For Nothing”, along with lots of other material on this album, should be taken with a pinch of irony. Much like those GTA games, it’s art that holds up a mirror to the cultural excess of the it’s respective era.

“So Far Away” makes it clear that these guys have an arrangement preference that lets these songs breathe for however long they need.

I knew all about “Money For Nothing”, but never knew that “Walk Of Life” was a Dire Straits song. It sound VERY much like a loving imitation of what Bruce Springsteen was doing on “Born In The USA” a year prior. It’s hard to see how people find this to be hackish and mindlessly derivative. I think this song and the sound on this album seems both like a loving homage AND a tongue-in-cheek nod to American pop-rock if the mid 80’s and before.

“Your Latest Trick” further burrows its nose in indulgent 80’s sounds. It’s composed with a lot of tact and played to perfection.

Then “Why Worry” triples down on the waiting room ambience with this placid, mellow, contemplative marathon of a recording. Minutes 3-6 practically tucked me in and kissed me goodnight before a steady drumline gently woke me up and served me breakfast in bed.

Not to be outdone, “Ride Across The River” flexes a different muscle entirely, with its vaporwave-fodder instrumental laid under a captivating story. A most subtle, charming war protest song.

If you can leverage any criticism towards this album, it’s that it doesn’t lose a slight bit of its generational mojo in the last few songs. They aren’t bad at all, it’s just hard to live in the shadow of such graceful excellence.

I’m a bit lost as to how this one wasn’t a seminal record when I was younger. Is it an American thing where a group like Guns N Roses was just more identifiable for me when listening to my parents’ classic rock radio all the time? Maybe it’s that the attractions of Brothers In Arms lay not in a bombastic presentation, but in a patient, delicate interpretation of rock in the mid 80’s.

I listened to this twice just to be sure it’s a 5/5. I was a little scared that upon my second listen, I’d feel a sense of lackluster at the aforementioned back end of the album. That didn’t happen at all, u was happy to just ride the pleasant wave that is Brothers In Arms!