Reviews by justcoolvinyl

Best year in U.S. punk rock history by far. I’ve thought hard about this but it’s hard to argue really. In 1984 the Replacements released Let It Be, Husker Du released Zen Arcade, and Minutemen released this brilliant record which sounded nothing like anything else that was in the punk rock scene or any other album anywhere- really. I’ve listened to this record hundreds of times over the past 40 years and was lucky enough to see them perform live several times. Hurley, Watt and Boon brought joy to punk rock and an authentic curiosity to their corner of the punk rock scene. Not your average punk rock record with bass playing by Watt that clears the way for the existence of Primus. The record jump around a number of topics including those of both a political and philosophical nature that makes it one of the few punk rock records that forces you to listen and think rather than shouting the message fir effect. When this came out originally, it didn’t all work for me. Sure, there are obviously some immediately catchy “hits” such as Corona, Vietnam, and History Lesson Pt2 which remain classics to this day. When I actually “got” the record was ten years later in my mid-30s and it was the section beginning with Political Song For Michael Jackson to Sing through God Bows To Math. Then I understood that these 3 truly working class dudes from San Pedro were onto something bigger than themselves. D Boon had died in 1985, a year after this record was released at 27. I was two years younger and had grown up in Canada’s punk rock scene and that death reverberated throughout Canada and the U.S. I moved to LA in 1986 and without the Minutemen the rest of the 80s sucked. Looking back to my reconnecting with this record in the early 90s influenced my thinking beyond just enjoying the music. These songs are a call to action- a protest of sorts- against complacency and blind following and obedience. The record is also about possibilities as well as accepting who you are and where you are from. Few records are so distinctive that they leave a lasting impression let alone a lifetime impression. So, if this record hasn’t clicked for you yet, give it a few more spins. It is so subversive as to its influence. It has many layers such that each listen provides a different experience adding to the power of this record. 5/5

Gotta love Eno. When he was young he was too fucking weird for pretty much everyone so when he left Roxy he said I’ll just make the Roxy Music album I want to make - and he did. Basically a hodgepodge of glam and oddball art pop with a smidge of what-the-fuck with songs that feature pretty much everyone he knew from Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, King Crimson and even from Roxy Music to produce a wide variety of interesting sounds including vocals mimicking Bryan Ferry. Don’t read too much into the lyrics which Eno admits were basically free association. Best track for me is Needle In A Camel’s Eye which is super catchy with just weird ass lyrics. Baby’s On Fire is also quite excellent but all I could think of was the Die Antwoord track with the same title. No relationship. Some of this is quite challenging such as The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch and Blank Frank. All in all, an interesting record with some terrific performances. 3/5

Music for planetariums. I first heard this album in a planetarium and it was the last time I heard it. Until now. It’s great for planetariums as a background music to movies about stars. It is honestly as boring as Steely Dan. It honestly and without hyperbole, is the lamest excuse for a record. There is nothing compelling about this. An album of extended noodling divided into segments that bore each other. Just shit. 💩 0/5

Nope. When they say playing with fire they mean what stoners do around a campfire- they run their hands through the flames, say “Dude” and then forget that their hand is burning. This music is anesthesia- soul numbing and at points, induces boredom. Several tracks test the patience of saints with their endless drone wall of sound punctuated by infrequent vocal musings. None of the tracks are that indistinguishable from any other track on the record varying only in length and sometimes in tempo. As experimental music goes, it certainly is experimental but it suffers primarily from the fact that you have to be stoned to enjoy it. At a certain point in life you don’t need artificial aids to enjoy things but in my opinion if you truly want to get this record you should double down on the drugs. Not wildly entertaining as albums go, but someone bought it. 3/5

Siouxsie and The Banshees imitators forge their own pathway by shifting from post-punk to dream pop and shimmering guitars through which Elizabeth Fraser uses her Siouxsie Sioux sounding vocals to cut through the guitar and drum machine to create sonically intersecting tracks. This is the best of Cocteau Twins work in my opinion. As an album for headphones the most interesting tracks are those where the melody is revealed amidst the gauze and hangs with Fraser’s vocals. Take opener Ivo for example where the multiple levels of vocals transform the song propelling it forward although at its core a simple riff repeated a number of times. Does the whole album work is the real question. Yes, but the resemblance to Siouxsie And The Banshees and The Glove is hard to overlook. 4/5

This album needs a different approach in order to assess its place in the pantheon of great albums. This new approach is necessitated by the vocals of Caleb Followill. They are definitely an acquired taste because the screeching on track 1 - Slow Night, So Long is unpleasant. So much so that when this album came out, I passed. As the album unfolds, an adjustment takes place such that by side 2 starting with Razz, you can entertain the idea that there are some good songs on the album. Some of the songs are just awful (Day Old Blues is just fucking boring), but there are a few gems. My list of gems is short: Razz, Four Kicks and Taper Jean Girl. There is no way this record belongs anywhere near the Top 1001 albums by a long shot. Not even the top 10,000. It’s an average indie rock record and even if Sex on Fire was on this record, and it’s not, the record would even then not register as good. There are no songs you would add to a mixtape to share with a friend. This record is not Steely Dan fucking awful but you’d be hard pressed to find any person who is going to put this in their desert island rotation. Certainly not me. I’d risk being eaten by sharks if I had only this to play on a deserted island. 2/5

As hipsters rediscover Sly and The Family stone and declare that this is now hip again, I would say, meh? This is the product of heavy drug use resulting in a sound only drug addicts comprehend - a sludgy mess of slurred words uttered by a thoroughly fucked up cynical mind. Sure it’s honest but it also is a murky lifeless piece of shit. The dubious dubbing experience would be a better title for Riot. The outright copping of Marvin Gaye-isms and use of a drum machine with a live drummer (really when you have a drummer let them just play - machines sound like shit) compound the misery this album elevates. Perhaps Elevated misery is a better title. Kids - don’t do drugs. Your records will sound like shit. I get this influenced a number of individuals years in the future. But as first experiments go, this is a shit show. There are flashes of good amidst the musical carnage but not enough to make this sad affair enjoyable. 2/10

Honestly when Laibach came out with its version of Cabaret Voltaire for the German audience styled as Wagnerian Industrial I laughed out loud. This was a joke that a number of people have hyped as being novel and genius. As joke’s go it was pretty funny because it’s clearly a parody. For those who missed the joke with this record, did it become clear when they covered the entire Beatles Let It Be record except Let It Be in exactly the same style? Hopefully for those who missed the joke the lights are starting to come on in their attics. Seriously, this is a one note joke and an average album. Go ahead, pick a favorite. Hysterical. 2/5

I bought this record when it came out as an import in Vancouver BC. The combination of LLoyd’s vocals and the amazing guitar tone was so compelling- it was an English version of power pop. It wasn’t Let’s Active, Don Dixon, Marshall Crenshaw or the dB’s, but it was somewhere in that continuum. Lloyd possesses a unique gift of melody and the ability to craft charming songs. I must have played Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken? a thousand times. Other favorites are Charlotte Street and Rattlesnakes but honestly this is a great album. My only minor complaint is that a couple of songs - Forest Fire and Speedboat are a bit long and would have been better with some editing. Again, minor overall and do not materially alter the enjoyment of the record. Top shelf this one. 9/10

What happens when a very good boogie southern blues band that fuses psychedelic Tex Mex sounds into a stew decides that the secret to success is to add more synths and discover the magic guitar tone? They turn into a popular pile of shit. Sure, 2/3 of a band of bearded ugly guys surrounding themselves with hot women hides the smell but it is just impossible to hide the fact that this record is really the same song cut up into 12 pieces. It bears repeating that it is just a pile of crap cleverly designed to appeal to a specific group of listeners who would never ever be called discerning. It’s a cheesy pop record with embarrassing lyrics that are repeated for effect. Sharp Dressed Man and Legs are truly the same song structure including the solo placement. Again, the so called critics loved this record, the masses ate the shit up, and then like most pop records, ended up in the used record bins alongside Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and 3 of the 4 Kiss solo records. There are no redeeming qualities to this record. The only interesting thing about ZZ Top is that Frank Beard is the only member of the band without a Beard. See you at the county fair. 2/5

As baroque pop/art rock goes, Funeral, is a top shelf album full of interesting songs that are well produced and well played. This album strikes the balance between Win Butler’s Bowie fetishism and Regine’s artier tendencies. The Neighborhood Suites occupying the first half are essentially a good warmup for the second half where I think the better songs lie. Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies) and the closer In The Backseat are the best songs on a strong record. A little shine has come off the apple as Win’s personal peccadillos have undeniably derailed Arcade Fire tarnishing their image and apparently damaging the partnership between Win and Regine who divorced. Funeral is perhaps the correct word as the allegations go back as far as this record. Still a solid listening experience. 3.5/5.

Dear God, Santana is fucking boring. This is prime noodling by an alleged guitar god. (lower case g). Yes, people play several of these tracks and they are a staple of the dying technology radio but why? Are there any people under the age of 200 still listening to this? This without a doubt is the Lawrence Welk of those born in the 50s. It is just a painful listen. My dog even covers his ears. Stop kidding yourself - if this music, like Steely Dan, is your groove, you have already fucking died and you are in music Hell. Oh, and Carlos is also joining you in Hell because, allegedly, he is also a shitty husband and parent. 0/5

Minutemen were the gold standard- D. Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley were too punk rock for punk rock. The gatekeepers didn’t know what to say with a band that was always jamming econo and marched to their own visions and demons. When D died in that same econo van something broke. When Ed convinced Watt that he should join he and Hurley to continue the journey I thought there was potential that his energy could lift them past grief. And he did. They weren’t the Minutemen but they had the vibe with a little more force. Over time, 2 of those albums, Ragin Full On and If’n, were destined to be come classics. I still spin those records regularly. This one - fROMOHIO, not so much. It did not advance the cause. It was competent, recognizable as Firehose, but not a standout. The songs were just there, as if the band was afraid to take steps that had defined them from the beginning- on their own adventure following their own muse. It was not make a record to promote a tour but rather they just made a record. And that was just not the Firehose way. I cannot recall the name of a single track in this record and I played it twice today all the way through. Hence, while it was enjoyable, it was merely background music and that is why it doesn’t belong on this list even though I am admittedly a fan. 3/5

While much has been written about the Doors, little discusses what a great blues band they truly were in order to expand that palate into the psychedelic rock and beyond. You just have to look no further than the cover of John Lee Hookers Crawling King Snake as the focal point for this record. Sure Love Her Madly, Riders On The Storm, and L.A. Woman are widely regarded classics and rightly so, but those tracks don’t exist without the blues. And unlike The Soft Parade, the recording on this record is far less busy and over produced giving Morrison’s vocals room to breathe and demonstrating both the power and the nuance of his voice. As with Morrison Hotel, the band is at its best when it is playing the blues rock it is comfortable with. This record is not perfect but it is a cut above average and for me the best Doors album. 3.5/5

The XX are a vibe. It was surprising to me how well these songs translate into the live setting. At Coachella they played the main stage and fully occupied the stage although the three of them seem disconnected they are in fact very connected musically. Romy Madley Croft plays guitar delicately such that the vocal interplay between her and Oliver Sim is fluid and flawless. Jamie XX’s drumming and production are the glue that keeps the music from losing it’s connection with the listener. As albums go, it is an emotional listening experience particularly on songs like Crystalized and Islands which takes the foundation of beats and bass with guitar for largely atmosphere to wrap melancholic vocals around. Along with Intro and VCR the first four tracks are as good as any 1st four tracks on any record. There is a bit of a drop off in the middle as there is a sameness to the second half although closer stars is pretty good. Their sound is instantly recognizable although there are historical antecedents to this sound found in bands like Young Marble Giants, Mazzy Star and perhaps Portishead. First rate record that should be in every pop fan’s collection. If you have Cure records, you should be comfortable with this record along side. 4/5

I have listened to this record hundreds of times. It is, for me, a perfect record. Putting aside that Paul Weller is an asshole, this is the moment when the mix of confidence, arrogance, musicianship of all members, came together to create a mix of memorable songs. The nitpickers will point at the similarities of some of the songs from past records but looking at the timeline these were a natural outgrowth of the Setting Sons sessions and some of these sounds will end up on The Gift ( See Dreams of Children). This was the record where Weller tried to break free from the sonic myth of those first 3 records which owed a debt to The Who and the Beatles but on Setting Sons those influences are highlighted with the Beatles taking center stage. Start! is a minor transformation of Taxman. The songwriting is first rate with That’s Entertainment, Man In The Corner Shop, Set The House Ablaze and Boy About Town being highlights. As I had the U.S. version first, that track order is the one I prefer, opening with Start! followed by Pretty Green and Monday. Look, in my less than humble opinion, The Jam were one of the best bands of all time and in my top 5. This is a no skip record and a classic. 5/5

As a VU fan, the selection of this album to include in this list is befuddling. It is a good album but not a great one. It also comes on the heels of a great record - White Light/White Heat. That record represents for me the pinnacle of VU’s recorded work and the loss of John Cale as a band member is palpable. I get Lou wanted to turn down the volume and include other voices but in hindsight, it was really Lou’s effort to share the blame if TVU was not as successful. Lou’s lack of courage is also evident giving up vocals to new multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule, whom replaced Cale. So what do you have? A truly great song in Pale Blue Eyes, a couple of good tracks ( Candy Says and the experimental The Murder Mystery) leaving some pretty average straight forward folk rock songs and ballads. No wonder it flopped. When I reach for a VU record it is not this one. 2/5

At least this is a record that will likely generate some diversity of opinion. You either like costume wearing groove metal with a couple of pop twists or you don’t. Some nu metal elements remain from prior records as if that aspect was baked in and therefore no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t escape their past. So what does this result in for this record? Other than a couple of tracks, this is a pretty average slick sounding at times metal record. I will say though that they managed to get some of the best drum sounds on a record- any record and they put them forward in the mix. And, Joey Jordinson, the drummer, is as good as any drummer in the scene. Shame they fired him. Psychosocial and Sulfur are by far the best tracks by a wide margin. The ballad, Snuff, just sucks and should have been left off the record in my mind. All Hope is Gone is an interesting track and a good closer. Overall, album is a little uneven and not really worth revisiting. For fans only. 3/5

I imagine it’s difficult being U2. When you have an album as masterful as The Joshua Tree under your belt and your career has skyrocketed using basically the same sonic toolbox since your inception, how is every album you make afterwards measure up? In short, they don’t. They never can because even the most cynical of individuals who listen to music will have to recognize that after a brilliant album and tour that followed, that the next record is going to be carefully scrutinized and will inevitably fall short. The album immediately following The Joshua Tree, Rattke and Hum, was also a spectacularly solid record. It was not quite as good, but it was a complete record with only a couple of skips ( for me the All Along The Watchtower was a skip). Achtung Baby is the beginning of the decline for me. Sure, there are several songs that are stellar and one deep cut that is compelling (Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World). The problem children on this record are this trio: Acrobat, So Cruel and Love is Blindness which are all just boring. So, if you are following along at home, all of this can be summarized as U2 is always going to sound like U2 - Bono’s vocals and Edge’s guitar work is always going to be consistent and identifiable. So, it’s always going to be an evaluation of where a particular song fits in the levels of U2’s own songbook. One, Who’s Going To Ride Your Wild Horses and, perhaps Mysterious Ways are all A Level tracks. Lowest ones for me on this record are C - they are just average and they comprise 1/4 of the record. So, better than middling but not a stunner. 3.5/5

An enjoyable record, a few good songs, but really? There Goes The Fear is the best of the bunch. Normally I’d be able to write about some aspect of the record that stands out, but in this case there really isn’t anything. It’s a nice indie pop record with some shoegaze elements. The music is a bit twee overall but I appreciated the band's effort to try throwing in a bunch of instruments to spice it up. I listened to this record twice through and at the end of that experience it became obvious that it is the vocals that make this work. A little melancholic with excellent harmonies was probably the secret to the chart success. Non threatening with some pretty well crafted lyrics. I recall the record coming out and probably downloaded a copy only to find some other music that seemed more interesting. On balance, a good effort, certainly listenable but just average. 2.5/5