Reviews by john

Reading the reviews, it seems as though this record is inseparable from drinking coffee as a time-passing activity. There also seems to be a lot of agitation for how mellow this whole thing sounds. What’s the big fuss for that? Not everything has to be a challenge or a front-of-mind art piece.

Norah Jones voice is the carry here, gliding over minimalist and wholly inoffensive instrumentals. Does it sometimes turn up more dull than it does cathartic? Certainly. Does it pull from only the most basic tenants of jazz, lounge, Americana and pop? Frustratingly so, sometimes yes. But there are just as many effective moments too. The airy sense of space in the recording during the last minute of “Cold Cold Heart” was pleasant.

The title track is a genuine love song worth its salt. It’s got what some of these songs are missing, a true hook that sticks in your head. Also love the slowed tango + lounge composition on “Ive Got To See You Again”.

Just go into it knowing you’re not gonna get a statement record or an opus of any magnitude. You’re here to chill and put this on in the background. It’s a 3/5. Effortlessly sweet voice and a palette cleanser record

Damn I didn’t realize how many mammoth songs were on one record here. The first three tracks & “Moving In Stereo” have all broke through to a status of infinite perpetuity on classic rock stations. Even “You’re All Ive Got Tonight” is pretty well-remembered from the classic rock radio of my childhood.

I’d like to think that “Moving In Stereo” is the coolest and most ahead-of-it’s-time song here, though the whole album is a little leap ahead of the 80’s synth sounds.

Soft 4/5

It's not that this album is too cleanly recorded or over-produced, it's just that it's missing a few sonic textures to really elevate it to something elite. Some reverb effects to back those insanely good vocals would more effectively convey the scale and intensity of this project. A record scratch sound effect or some hi-pass/lowpass filters would more easily transition a verse to a chorus, sometime those things feel very glued together in these songs. A good example is "Tracy's Flaw". Everything sounds a bit dry and smaller than it should. The composition is all there, the instrumentation is there, the vocals are there. There's just no sonic sense of depth, no rough texture to pair with the gritty vocals.

But those are all nitpicks. The lead singer Skin is one-of-a-kind. I love how her rage flows over the near-nu-metal aesthetics of these tracks. "On My Hotel TV" had me blown away.

"The Skank Heads" had a true punk sound and soul for it's verses, then a very sleek chorus that made it one of the more memorable tracks for me. And finally, a post-chorus with some intensive guitar pedals and effects giving the song a sense of speed. Then "Lately" follows up with something much more accessible, a sing-songy top-line with little screaming and a heavy reliance on melody.

"You'll Follow Me Down" is a slow, sticky, suspenseful jam that makes up for the few songs that drop the ball a bit in quality preceding it. I ADORE the crickets and faded voices tacked onto the outro here.

Outside of a few nu-metal records adjacent to it (Linkin Park, Evanescence), this is a very unique record, especially in the context of this list. 4/5, there's a stellar amen break passage right at the beginning what do you expect from me

By song 3 I could confidently pin down exactly what this album was about and what it had to offer in totality. It toes a very forgettable line between country/folk and rock.

I literally have nothing else to offer. I don't doubt the authenticity of these songs but everything falls short

It’s so focused and perfected in many aspects.

“NY State Of Mind” alone has been referenced and sampled infinitely, so many phrases and one-liners pulled from this song.

“The World Is Yours” has a chorus that is representative of the once-in-a-generation flow state Nas was in, flipping between deterministic verses and optimistic melodies.

“Memory Lane” wields such a stunning few minutes of relentless flows, complemented by a very catchy looped sample.

“Represent” brings an elevated fury from Nas, it’s got more lines delivered with more sting. Right when the album’s pacing called for it, too.

5/5 Nas was born for this

So aptly named for how it takes from the pop album ethos of putting together a bunch of mismatched songs and making them work. A cynical, thoughtful racial commentary song like “Run Charlie Run” into the funk odyssey “Papa Was A Rollin Stone” is a good example of the ‘All Directions’ mindset. Also is it a coincidence that this album generated with a few hours left on the 3rd of September?

“I Ain’t Got Nothin” is THE song here imo. Groovy but slow, plenty of memorable moments, fantastic vocals. The following “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” is nice, but doubling down on the mellow songs by slowing things down even more was a little challenging.

A strong closing track puts this at a firm 3/5

Wow! This is impressive on so many levels. In a vacuum, these are fantastic songs delivered in a very personable way. From a higher level, the sound Violent Femmes are wielding here is a good 10+ years ahead of it's time. Everything about this screams 90's alt or early Modest Mouse. I'm floored. "Kiss Off" was the first song that really got things rolling and it never stopped.

Around "Prove My Love" the instrumentals get a little more prototypically 'rock' for lack of a better moniker, but the lead singer stays as quirky, lonely, and horny as ever. The xylophone solo in "Gone Daddy Gone" felt like icing on the wonderful and weird cake that is this album. An actually not ironic closing song puts the wheels back on the ground with such ease.

I've always heard this band name but never checked them out. It's a strong 4 for me, but I totally see why you'd give this a true 5/5. Very fun, very silly, very memorable

On the whole it does enough to be a good pop album, but as is the case with 90% of double albums, it could’ve been whittled down to one really good record.

“Back In The Day” is an overt declaration of what this album is about stylistically, or at least the first disc. The second disc kinda goes this way and that all of the sudden.

“Thank You” is charming and well-meaning enough, a little imperfect on the execution but it’s a nice sentiment. I love the idea of that guy on the song who called in and mentioned that her music kept him going when he was deployed in Iraq — specifically because it now loosely implies that the troops heard “Nasty Naughty Boy” and felt a morale boost to go commandeer that oil!!! Lol

“Enter The Circus” is my favorite song of the two discs, I’m a sucker for songs with this theme and it was a good way to immediately differentiate the first album from the second.

Though “Hurt” is not written about Christina’s personal experiences, she sings it well enough to have had me convinced. “The Right Man” is kinda like a follow up to Hurt, it’s also pretty powerful for something pop-leaning.

This could’ve been way worse in many ways. It’s a little one-note with the throwback schtick, but it lives long enough to have a better second disc imo.

Strong 3/5

“Think Again” is a standout, with so much personality in the lyrics, a lot of fun intonation in the screamed deliveries. And that slap bass solo!

The title track, aptly, had the most declarative lyrics on the nature of the straight edge punk ethos. For 1983, this was so ahead of its time.

3/5, very respectfully

Ok I get the hype. That doesnt mean the hype is totally for me, but I get the hype. It is another deconstruction of rock conventions, rebuilding them through guitar pedals and effects. Not bad. It listens as a whole album very well too, front to back.

That being said, sometimes some of the effects came through at a frequency which was very shrill and sometimes harsh on the ears. Ultimately, I also think I prefer these ultra-colorful, blissed-out textures in the form of “Heaven Or Las Vegas” by The Cocteau Twins. They compile it all into a more catchy format.

3/5 respectfully

I’m thankful to be 900+ albums into this list. It’s given me the context to know that Britpop was very much a product of its time and place, a ‘you had to be there’ genre. And this list has provided more than enough britpop to help me understand that this ISN’T the genres best offering.

Most of the songs on here are wallpaper quality. The vocals are flat, the mix is thin, and the instrumentals are painfully bland.

“Catching the Butterfly” is only remarkable for sounding like amuse lifting the hook from “Dancing Queen”.

“Weeping Willow” and “This Time” were ok to my ears, they found a way to build some steam and make progress towards that y2k rock sound that Radiohead paved way for and acts like Coldplay would follow up on.

But overall this is a tough 2/5. Not worth

As is often the case with art that sets out to challenge the conventions of its medium (in this case, rock music), this album has moments of provocative music, and other moments that get a little lost in the sauce. The seesawing of the opening “Sweet Loaf” flipping between two motifs is fantastic. The relative silence of “Hay” is a great touch too.

Other songs like “USSA” or the wordplay on “Kuntz” have a bit too much fun just being snooty or nonsensical. But I can allow it for how they're balanced out by songs like “Human Cannonball”, which I feel beholden to pay even more attention too for how conventionally normal it is. Could’ve gone without the last song, but maybe it’s cathartic for some to hear.

4/5. It’s not necessarily enjoyable but it’s an excellent use of free will to deconstruct rock music like this

Good music be damned this guy can hold some awful views on the world. Having this many Morrisey AND Smiths albums on here proves to be even more redundant when you’re giving this guy a platform. I get it, I understand the smiths appeal now because of this list, and the appeal of Morrisey’s wistful crooning. But this is too much, especially the content of “Bengali In Platforms”.

I also don't love some of the late 80's sounds on here, a lot of the electronic drums clash with the more fluid nature of the vocals. Low 2/5

It was many prog rock albums before this one where I knew this genre doesn't usually hit for me. It's a bit like being forced to read a fantasy book that I have no interest in engaging with. The characters are all written with such pizazz, and I'm expected to automatically buy into the world.

Like all the other Yes albums here, the music is played technically well, but they get too lost in the sauce for my liking. "The Cinema Show" was alright.

This album-oriented rock doesn't age as well as some would like you to believe. 2/5

The ratings and reviews are a bit too harsh on this record imo. Is this album at times heavy-handed and overt? Absolutely, but Mariah Carey can get away with it by having an incredible voice and making music in a genre and time where it was ok to be maximal with the dramatics of each song. It’s 90’s r&b, it’s what you sign up for.

That “Shook Ones” sample was interpolated really well on “The Roof (Back In Time”). Then there was a pleasant cover of Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones” in there too. “Breakdown” was my favorite original of hers.

This was serviceable and at times even pleasant. What’s there to be up in arms about? 3/5

Hmmm between Spacemen 3 and the other Spiritiualized album on here, this seems redundant. Something that could take its place is a This Will Destroy You album or a Hammock album. Some sweeping, grand post-rock would be much more interesting than this offering.

By the time “Take Your Time” came around, I was altogether tapped out. Nothing was happening, and not the good kind of nothing. A pseudo-cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t even do anything for me.

A weak 2/5 this isn’t worth the time

Literally 1984.

I have irreversibly good memories of "Jump" associated with family members and friends playing that song a lot during summers while we were all out and about. So it's a privilege to be able to just put my blinders on and enjoy the song for what it is - a hair metal anthem with an insane hook. "Panama" is when the engines of this album stall out, and the rest of the album is an unfortunate free fall out of the sky. "Hot For Teacher" is a quick little backflip for style points, but in the end, it's still a fiery mess in a nosedive.

Eddie Van Halen has a real presence that sticks with you. I'll admire him for that. And when the band finds a hook that sticks, it's a bona fide HIT. But so many of these tracks aren't hits, and also aren't willing to mess with the recipe enough to be considered innovative or even different at all, for lack of a better term.

2/5 they've got a solid greatest hits list, the normal albums aren't as easy to get through

Such a strong opening line, just simply "Do I stress you out?". Then she strings together a fantastic song with some excellent vocal melodies. The first song alone is it's own mini hook factory. The 4th wall break by cutting the track off after the line about silence. She comes out swinging.

Then she rattles off two of the more iconic tracks of the 90's. It's a testament to Morisette's totally unique voice and how she sells out in the booth. These performances have so much commitment behind them.

I was blown away by how many songs I realized I knew as the tracklisting went on. By the time "Head Over Feet" came on I felt like I might just incidentally know most all of this album.

The production on this is very crisp too. Dated compositions, but clean, clear instrumentation and drum programming/sampling.

I'll give this a light 4/5. I'll always have a hard time revisiting most pop-leaning stuff from the 90's, but this is undeniably solid

The only man that's worth loving is Jesus Christ. That's a more specific title.

A little disappointing to be honest. Three megalithic names in country and most of the songs were somewhere between ok, fine, and predictable. This seemed more cathartic for them to make than for us to listen to. Lots of songs about relationships gone wrong or outright betrayal. I didn't need anything fun, but would've liked some variety.

It pains me to give this a 2/5, it really does. I admire the work of all three of these women. But this didn't live up to the heights of their respective solo works. Favorite song was "My Dear Companion" for the way it resolved it's chorus in a very classic country hymnal stlye.

Let's get this outta the way, yes it's a live album that's clearly overdubbed. Plenty of live albums overdub, and this one's a little more overt than most. I don't have a huge hangup about the overdubbing, I'm willing to bet the pure live version didn't sound as pleasing. It's whatever to me.

I'm not gonna lie I didn't know Thin Lizzy was an Irish band. Everything about their sound I'd heard on my parents classic rock radio growing up led me to believe these guys were bike riders from a flyover state. What did I know. These guys shred though. By the time the guitar solo for "Emerald" got done, I was impressed. More than that, these guys have good vibes. Some combination of tight performances ("Suicide"), the lead singers infectious deliveries ("Cowboy Song"), and some good storytelling ("Massacre"). It's all there.

First half is a bit stronger than the second half, but this was as thoroughly performed as it was fun, even with the overdubbing and switching venues. 4/5