Reviews by john

Nick Drake was an artist so enigmatic that he has a song ABOUT him. And what a good friend in John Martyn, to make such a thoughtful single about his friend.

This is kinda like what a lively lounge album should aim to be. A bit of acoustica, a bit of free-form percussion. Airy, soulful vocals. The occasional musical tangent, like the midway point of "I'd Rather Be The Devil", which get pleasantly trippy and experimental all at once. I really enjoyed the journey that song took me on. It hit me, during this song, that this all sounds surprisingly timeless for something from 1973 (outside of those Shaft-style guitar grooves on "Dreams By The Sea"). Same thing applies for the album cover though! Not that it matters, but I do think it's worth noting when a piece of art defies or removes itself from the tropes of it's time of creation. To stay on the same point in the track listing of the album, I think the transition from "I'd Rather Be The Devil" to "Go Down Easy" locked my attention in a bit more. Something about how smooth the transition was, the use of space and quiet ambiance, it was all really impactful. It's a shame this sequencing shows the least amount of plays on spotify for this record, it's some amazing work.

On the note of spotify plays, the masses got it all wrong the whole way through this album. "The Man In The Station" deserves more than the 5th most popular song from Solid Air. The mumbly, buttery-smooth delivery of that step-down melody in the verses is stellar. If I could come up with some sort of signature award to give out for my listening experiences on this list, it's my "instant replay" award - where I stop the tracklisting from playing out like normal to replay a song immediately - "The Man In The Station" gets my instant replay award. Bossa nova inspired brilliance!

My rating on this is hard to pin down. I think most of the easily accesible acoustic guitar ballads on this are just kinda ho-hum, especially the closer. But when John Martyn let's his creative inclinations run off into different directions, this album elevates to something special. Tracks 3-5 and track 8 really did it for me. Soft 4/5 stars. Nice hidden gem here!

Eminem uses one beautiful instance of storytelling in “Stan” to show you how to craft a thoughtful, memorable, substantive response to stardom — then nosedives the rest of the project into a hateful, vitriolic mess of how NOT to respond to newfound fame/infamy. The doubling down on slim shadys whataboutism is full of dates references that doesn’t clear his name or meaningfully divert the attention to the systemic failures that led to so many kids (namely white teenage boys) relating to some sentiments on this record; “Who Knew” is the best example of these misdirections. Dr. Dre’s production doesn’t hit as hard on most of this project imo, the best beat on the album to my ears is “Drug Ballad”, which Dre doesn’t even have his hands on.
There are moments of introspection that almost make you sympathetic for Marshall Mathers the person, but it seems like each time he comes up for air, he quickly devolves back into some mixture of slurs and hatred.
Did this album shed a light on the awful underbelly of middle America, white men, and cycles of poverty? Yes, in many ways. Did it have to do so with nasty, awful language and aesthetics? Nooooooo no no no no no no noooooo.
My two stars all go to Stan.

I think that on the whole, we have not celebrated this album enough. Is it because it’s a movie score? You could’ve fooled me. This record is full of harrowing lamentations of the black experience, coupled with some of the most vibrant, beautiful, dramatic instrumental arrangements.
Hearing this album with ears trained by 2020’s pop/hiphop/rap makes me think about how ripe for sampling and referencing these songs are.
The string ending of “Little Child Runnin Wild” sounds like it inspired Kanye Wests “Flashing Lights” a good bit.
And my goodness how many times has “Pusherman” been interpolated or referenced throughout the lexicon of rap and hiphop culture - I’m looking at you, Pusha T.
No record of its time is complete without a bossa-nova-leaning love song, and “Give Me Your Love” does it well.

I think the passage in “Freddie’s Dead” sums up Superfly’s messaging best:
“We're all built up with progress
But sometimes I must confess
We can deal with rockets and dreams
But reality
What does it mean?
Ain't nothing said
'Cause freddies dead”

Powerful, colorful, substantial, soulful, and groovy all at once!

Very conflicted about this one. The instrumentals are SO cool. Each one sits at a nice intersection of melodic substance, compositional variation, vibrant guitar textures, and general sonic fullness. There’s this driving, heavy beat on “Let Me Come Back”, for example, thats so visceral and energetic!
At the same time, the lead singers vocals are just about a deal breaker. It’s nearly tragic thinking about these instrumentals under the vocals of the Sleater-Kinney girls — listen to the background vocal refrain on “Learned It”, it’s made for them, or for any riot grrrl group worth their stuff.
Where is this guys voice even sitting in “Satin Down” or “Get Down”? thats not a charming inside voice, it’s grading and creepy.
The record’s apparent hit, “Bulletproof Cupid” is the best example of how close this music comes to something huge, only to be muddied by some poor vocal work. I don’t even think this is a matter of me desiring for something more poppy, I just don’t like this vocalists performances.
Mourning the possibilities this album was poking at. Could’ve been 4/5 stars.

I’m an American whos been exposed to ten times more Gorillaz music than Blur music. I’ll happily admit that and all biases that come with it. But maaaaan it’s so clear that Gorillaz was a freeing, more fulfilling channel of creation for Damon Albarn. You can even hear the Gorillaz creativity wanting to claw out of its early stages, “Theme From Retro” shares some sonic qualities with “Glitter Freeze” from the Plastic Beach album.

Albarn is said to have wanted to take a more serious angle to his songs with Blur, so naturally the first two songs on here are “Beetlebum”, then a song that goes WOOHOO! LOL.

I liked the ending minute of “On Your Own” as a nice singalong anthem. Maybe that’s my pick from this project.
Also, “Essex Dogs” has a super cool intro, but doesn’t really feel apart of this album. I thought Spotify auto-played some sort of Massive Attack song after the album just ended.

Can’t say I got a ton to take with me on this musical list journey. This record *blurred* right by HAHAAAAAA. 2/5.

Variety like this has been much needed! It’s the spice of life! I love their take on an album, and of course this has Brian Zeno’s fingerprints on it. There’s no frills and no adhesion to genre or hopes to land a radio hit, just a thorough front-to-back listen.
The way the opening track slows to an end is so smooth and so pleasant!
I have a bit of personal bias in liking “Surface Tension”, the rhodesy keyboards sound just like something off zedd’s Clarity album, both in their sound and chord structure. Probably my favorite off the album for that little nugget alone.
Lastly, "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter" has such a sensible little guitar riff, it’s so placid and perfect.
While this album may not blow your socks off, it might help you ease into a morning or ease into bed. Give this one your time :)

From one Pat Smear associated group to the next!
This album kinda flew right by me. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing. There’s some things worth celebrating on In Utero; I think Kurt Cobain sings about things in a very measured mature manner. I think the cello on “Dumb” and “All Apologies” is AMAZING.
I also believe the MTV Unplugged record gives me the best parts of In Utero and leaves out all the rest. I couldn’t grasp a lot of the deep cuts on this project, unfortunately.

I understand the need to feel like you should include an album like this on the list - I don’t know if I’ve heard much American punk yet. But this wasn’t a good listen. I’m sure it was probably super entertaining and engaging live! Like, the strange sound they make 1:40 into “Manimal”? Probably pretty fun to hear at a show. I can imagine how lively the crowd could be.

And that’s all I can muster up to say for this record!!!

I have no context for what it's like to be in LA state, New Orleans, or anywhere close for that matter, so to my untrained ear this sounds like an honest attempt to captivate the sounds and vibe of the area/time. What this album succeeds at is capturing the listener and sending them on a boat ride through a mystical bayou swamp, full of olde-timey, grizzled characters.
What this album doesnt do...is much else beyond that honestly. I really appreciate the record on the whole, but it didnt have any standout songs to me. A good, quick listen, nothing more, nothing less.
If I had to pick a song to listen to, I suppose I liked the instrumental "Croker Courtbullion" the most
2/5 cool but not much else

The first song, “Roadhouse Blues” had me confirming my expectations and preconceptions that I had coming into this album: The Doors were hard at work making an album that leaned into a classic bluesy, parlor rock sound. But what lies beyond the opener proves to be a bit more nuanced and well-performed.

"Waiting For The Sun" has a surprisingly timeless instrumental, with a nice little crunchy keyboard texture, some saturated guitar licks paired with with punchy drums that all sound like something out of a prime yeezy-era sound pallet?? That's genuinely what it reminded me of.
"Blue Sunday" is has an airy, mirage-like, stumbling nature to it that's a great change of pace.
Lastly, "Indian Summer" is a very endearing love song that's mellow and does nothing more than it needs to. It's the embodiment of being in love and the emotional foundation that love can provide a person - simplicity and assuredness. One of the best songs I've had the pleasure of listening to from this list so far.

I know I gushed about this not too long ago on the L.A. Woman record, but Jim Morrison had an insane vocal presence. It's not like he could hit every note low to high with perfection, it's more that he had such a fullness and ability to inject character into how he sang about things. I feel like he could've been one of those singers-turned-actors with some real success, you can hear his sense of showmanship and knack for vocal delivery that just cant be taught.

Not perfect, but once again The Doors proved that they were operating in an echelon above the rest of their classic rock peers

The further along we dove into this list, the more you begin to look at albums like MLB front offices evaluate relief pitchers: weird is good, deviating from the norm is of significant value. Everyone can get through a 2-3 star rock album like every hitter can hit a 6’1 righty with a three-quarters arm angle who tops out at 92 mph on his fastball.

This album is the Chad Bradford of the list. A completely unique delivery thats good for a few innings. The novelty of it in the context of this mostly British and American list is hard to ignore. That novelty does ware down a bit towards the end of the record.
The opening few songs sound so firm, militaristic, and almost nationalistic in a sense. Chanting choruses, march-able drumloops, jaggedly cold melodies.
What captivated my attention the most, though, was the more intimate moments on “Koza (Skin)” with its whispery vocal recordings and echoey, dissonant chamber sounds. It shows to me how the group was in touch with the track sequencing aspect of this project, as the novelty of the loud choruses was starting to lose its welcome a bit.

I won’t go back to this album for a casual listen anytime soon, but am appreciative of its inclusion. Music completely unique to a region, culture, and period of time

Snuck this one in by 5am before Spotify went down today - all the while I was rejoicing to myself “Bobby finally locked in!”
It only took him an affair in which he ruined his marriage to drop the rambly “leopard skin pillbox hat” style jingles. The contents of Blood On The Tracks are relatively more streamlined, accessible, and most of all, grounded. Not only did I enjoy the grounded nature of these songs much more than his previous works, I even found some of them to be very forthcoming and blunt.

It seems like Dylan’s focus for this album rotates around three people: himself, his wife at the time, and the lady he is having an affair with. There’s a handful of reframings and fantastical stories, but all of those tales are clearly about this pod of three people.

“Simple Twist Of Fate” is probably the first example of that forthcoming nature of this album (it’s so funny that he’s denied these songs being autobiographical in the past).
“You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” is another favorite of mine and maybe the most catchy of this bunch.
“Lily, Rosemary and the Jack Of Hearts” is the most fun song for sure.
Lastly, “Buckets Of Rain” has is a great closer, with a little acoustic riff that sounds like a melancholy version of that “In The Summertime” song and Reddit confirms that I’m not alone in hearing it.
Thank you Bob for planting your two feet back down on earth and singing from the heart

I think this is how you should evolve your sound without biting too deeply into whatever sonic trends are cool & current. Peter Gabriel leans into electronics and synths in a mostly understated, utilitarian way that hasn’t aged so terribly badly, unlike some of the 80’s experiments other artists took on.
“Games Without Frontiers” is a good example of this - just a few synths and a drum machine, nothing overdone. This is really a great song, super great for Kate Bush to come on, she adds a lot to it (I also though this was an Eno collaboration with those guitars and that drum machine, but I was wrong).
“Lead a Normal Life” is probably my pick from the album. I love the bell synth loop at the beginning (same with the bellish sounds in “No Self Control”). It’s super interesting, this bell sound has kinda been used into the 90’s and then repurposed to be used in some more modern IDM stuff (hate that genre moniker).
Not his best work, but still a respectable listen with moments that’ll make this album at least slightly worth your time

Some cool moments here from Bert Jansch. Very folksy and easy to get into for a quick listen. Completely cooked me that he’s Scottish, this sounds like any other American folk record of it’s time to my novice ears.
It’s so interesting to me that yesterdays record was Zeppelin 3, a project (or group of projects) that often employed the same rolling, plucky folk guitars that get played all the same on this Bert Jansch album - “The Casbah” is a good example of these similarities.
“Needle Of Death” is the obvious pick to listen to, this is a super harrowing story and it’s told with such blunt sorrow. Really, really good song. Listening to that one over and over again.
3/5 straight up

Good, not great imo. Hard to compete with Zeppelin 4 which would follow. Definitely more fleshed out than Zeppelin 1 though, which we’ve also listened to already. To this albums credit, it’s very textured, with just the right amount of unique instrumentation - if there’s anything it has over Zep 4, it’s that.
Also to this albums credit, it doesn’t concern itself with trying to sound like the Beatles. We had a BeeGees album from around the same time Zep 3 came out and it was sooo similar to a late Beatles record at points. Zep 3 is its own thing, going for its own sound.
“Since I Been Loving You” is my not obvious pick to listen to from this record.
Nothing here is bad, nothing here amazed me though

If you can invest into the melodrama he’s found himself in, you might get some mileage out of this one. Or, the melodrama he portrays. Unsure how much of this is autobiographical, and how much of this is a practice in character portraits. Which I suppose is a sign of good songwriting!
Wouldn’t say this is country, but it sure associated itself with the places and folks that helped shape the albums identity. Toes the line of country, folk, singer-songwriter, Americana, etc.
“Oh My Sweet Carolina” may as well have laid the groundwork for what Chris Stapleton and other acoustic folksy guys would build upon. Probably my favorite on the album.
“Dam Sam” was a personal confrontation experience for me, forcing me to realize that Bob Dylan’s influence knows no bounds.
From here on there’s a bit too much harmonica if you ask me. That and all the eulogizing or hyperbole about lost lovers and other familiar tropes, like “Dont Ask For The Water”.
A good change of pace for this list, this record is at its best when it’s sonically spacious/minimal, and lyrically wearing its heart on its sleeve. A respectable 3/5

This is the second BeeGees concept album on this list to loosely use historic maritime activities and locations in its concept 💀 haven’t even heard the disco albums yet.

Much like Trafalgar, the most dazzling thing about this record is the soaring string arrangements.
“You’ll Never See My Face Again” and “Whisper Whisper” confronts the listener with the idea that maybe every white band in 68-70 wanted to sound a bit like the Beatles. But fret not! You can hear the Gibb signature sound more on the next track, “Black Diamond”.
“Marley Purt Drive” might be one of my favorites to pick, just for how simple and easy on the ears it is.
I would’ve been happy if they trimmed this album down 15-20 minutes. It’s easy to sink into inactive listening about halfway through the album, it lulls you into melancholy without meaning to.
“Seven Seas Symphony would’ve been a grand closing track.
Pretty mellow 3/5

I don’t wanna hear about how this album was a pioneering bastion for post-punk as a whole. If that’s the case, then the best thing I can say about First Issue is the quote from moneyball, “the first one through the wall always gets bloody”. Because this is a bloody mess at times.
While the songs “Religion 1 & 2” are true to the spirit of punk music, it’s about as shallow of a criticism of organized religion as I can think of. So many songs have made more tactful, interesting criticisms than these ones. Even the rhyme scheme and delivery is clunky.
The shouting toward the end of “Annalisa” isn’t raw or cool, it’s grading and doesn’t reward the listener for getting through a very humdrum track thats mostly comprised of one melodic loop.
Is “Fodderstompf” a parody of more popular music of its time? I genuinely couldn’t tell or come up with another reason why the album ended that way.
Hard to find anything good to say about this album other than I’m glad that post-punk developed into much more than the sounds of this project

It doesn’t take a deep Wikipedia dive to know that this is an album made by a man who is bitter about a divorce he’s gone through. And honestly, I wish it weren’t so, because the result is not Marvin’s best work. This is the third album of his that this list has produced, this one comes from the most hateful and personally downtrodden perspective of the three. While R&B roots itself in such emotions, I don’t think Mr. Gaye produces any unique or memorable perspectives with such emotions. At best, it’s moody, at worst, it’s meandering, aimless, and petty.
My pick to listen to from this record is “Anger” which is sort of a third person view of Marvin, where he extricates himself from the divorce emotions he’s feeling to give a more measured view on what anger does to him and others in general.
None of the music is ‘bad’ here, but none of it stands out or merits a spot on this list.

The completionists album. There are no misses in the track listing here. An exploration of love and identity through the gentle concept of a predominantly black classroom discussion.

Many things are impressive about Miseducation. One of which is how every beat is great, and no beat gets in the way of Ms. Lauren Hill. But I suppose it’s hard to do that, because another impressive thing is how Lauren Hill can sing and croon AND rap all in one song, or switch it up completely from one song to the next.

I hear some Stevie Wonder inspiration sprinkled throughout this album. I hear it specifically on the vocal runs in “To Zion” with Carlos Santana, which is such a sweet pairing. I also hear the influence in “Every Ghetto, Every City” with those Stevie Wonder “Superstitious” keys. Beyond the sonic influence, I hear how she can speak from the heart about matters both personal and social, both she and he could cut through lots of tropes to get to the core of what they wanted to speak on.

“Doo Wop (That Thing)” is a classic that doesn’t need to be talked about, just listened to.
“Ex-factor” is crazy because it’s one of her best songs for the first four minutes or so, then has a Prince-esque guitar solo at the end that makes it even better.
“Final Hour” is just bars after bars after bars, it’s dizzying and so full of phrases to think on.

Miseducation is a project of the heart, from the heart.