Reviews by k-dot-r

Very funky, down and dirty in Philly. Not an artist I had heard of before, but one I certainly enjoyed. A clear influence, in my mind at least, on Fun Lovin Criminals and Cage the Elephant, and a few others who fused rock, funk and rap-sung vocals. A cracker

Brilliant

A band where I like all the songs I know, but wasn't sure how consistent a full album would be. I am glad to now know that it is excellent - probably better as a whole than the Sex Pistols album from around the same time.
Punk with a keyboard doesn't sound like a recipe for success, but it absolutely works.
Clearly shows the link from pub rock to punk, and even shows the way punk would morph after its heyday - a brilliant album. All of their next few albums are now on my (rapidly expanding) "beyond 1,001 albums" list!

Odd. Very odd. Lots of songs, most of them pretty short. Wear their influences on their sleeves, but would have benefitted from a producer & editor to streamline the running order and finish some of the shorter tracks. Good, but not great. I will look out for more of their stuff, but there is so much that I'm not sure where to start!

Prog punk - odd as a concept, but wonderful in practice. Not my favourite of their albums, and not quite flawless, but a great album to elevate a sunny Saturday

Hell yeah! Wu Tang for the win!

The missing link between punk and new romantics, like a slightly better generation X. Far from flawless, but enjoyable and interesting, with a couple of great songs.

A couple of classics, a few others that basically sound the same, and a few dull moments that would probably not make it onto an album nowadays. Not great, not terrible, but decent

Brilliant production, explosive lyrics, dizzying use of samples, contemporary relevance, absolutely wonderful

Sounds like 2 drummers kicking a saxophonist down the stairs, while another saxophone screams for help, and a bassist nods along. Not an easy listen, but certainly unusual. One I would probably like more after listening to it a whole bunch of times. But I don't want to, so I won't be!

Perfection

Very odd, in a good way! Feels almost more like a classical piece than most things on the list, with wilfully weird lyrics and gorgeous music

A few good tracks, and wonderful guests, but not really my thing. Enjoyable enough, and clearly the work of someone who knows what he is doing, but lacking a little soul/passion/heart.

The missing link between Bowie (& Dylan) and the Clash and Dr Feelgood - showing how art rock and pub rock were about to merge and speed up (and take influences from elsewhere) to become pink rock.
Very very Bowie influenced, obviously, but that is certainly not a bad thing!

I love Björk, and would happily listen to all her work on a loop for days on end. Such variety and confidence for a Debut (solo) album, showing what she learned from her previous band as well as skills well outside of anything The Sugarcubes could or would have done.
Was always likely to get five, but the chance to (properly) listen again reminded me why I fell for her in the first place!

Flawless

Very pleasant, if a little bloodless. Neil Young is probably the most interesting (occasional) member of csn&y, and his songs on this album stood out a mile. All in all, I really liked it, but didn't quite love it.

Heavy as hell, I think this would have broken my head a bit if I had heard it when I was 14! However, with more knowledge of heavy and extreme music, I now love it and value its place in the progression.

A clear influence on Korn, Slipknot, and many other bands I love, perhaps the most interesting and comparable being the wonderful Alien Weaponry - who would hopefully see the compliment in being thought of as a Maori Sepultura!

Sounds about a million years old; doesn't need the "bonus" tracks / outtakes; pleasant enough but doesn't really move me; great voices, decent songs, slightly lazy production (as can sometimes be the case with self-produced records)

Just some lass who has listened to too much Björk, but not enough of the other music that influenced Björk, so thinks it is easy to make records like Björk. Fever Ray falls so far short, it's honestly kind of embarrassing. Not actively terrible, but just sort of junk electro-singer-songwriter, with sloppy production and an odd (possibly affected) semi-Scandinavian feel. Not for me, but I can see why critics (and authors) might think there was something there.