Reviews by jonathanptait

Doesn't have business making mostly good to great records this late in his career, and he made two of them!

Fine, but some of the songs are seriously irritating

Almost perfect, the only weak track, Judy, is saved by a wicked middle eight!

Would've been a five if I didn't genuinely hate the title track

Love the samples; funky, fun, rebellious. I'd listen to it, and them again!

One of the best albums of the 90s, and one of the best guitar tones ever

It shows a tremendous amount of promise with some highly enjoyable tracks,

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is brown
We're all wearing brown
And the cover's brown
Lets add some brown text
And all get in the bath
A very beige album for such a Summer's day

I didn't know this; and was pleasantly surprised for the most part. I think it would've made an amazing single album, but that is something I feel about most double LPs. A comfortable 4 star listen..

It's perfect

An absolute stunner, like a country tinged Velvet Underground. You can hear shoegaze, proto-heavy metal, baroque psych, space rock. A gem!

One trick ponies

I definitely have listened to this before, and it didn't click then. It has now! The guitar sound and patterns are great - this is basically everything I like about Joy Division with a great vocalist

Its a four for vibes but a three for enjoyment

I remember this being fine, and it was a little more than fine. I don't love Ric Ocasek's voice and there's a lot of synth timbres that sound off the shelf - sometimes charming, sometimes amateur.

A fine experimental record with plenty more upside than down, but the concept is sometimes poorly realised

Have never heard this, nor anything by Common. It was a pleasant surprise. The tracks I liked I really enjoyed. The ones I didn't annoyed me. There are more tracks than I like than I dislike.

Super pleasant, but if I wanted to hear Donald Fagen, there are seven Steely Dan albums I'd rather pick than this.

It's an absolute classic, but today, it doesn't hit as hard as I thought it would. I think the engineering (although of its time) makes it a slightly more difficult listen, why is the harmonica blowing inside of my skull? 💀

Edited - it is a five on a relisten

If there's an easier 5 to be given, I don't know about it. I remember driving through Death Valley National Park, fighting back tears at my gratitude of where I was and who I was with. It's a biting commentary of what America thinks it is, and what America actually is, and a love letter to the tension between the two. It might be my favourite album EVER.