Reviews by lancia037

Another really great Hip Hop album. Gangsta normally isn't my favorite subgenre, but this is a great one within. I really like Ghostface Killah and it's nice to see him and most of the Wu Tang here as well. Beats are amazingly executed and all the wacky samples from movies seem to blend in really well. It's a bit long, perhaps too much, but Reakwon does have a lot to say.

I was expecting this to be pretty good and it turned out to be really good. Beautiful beats and production here, the first track is a stand out especially. This album somehow manages to make a live song in the middle of the tracklist fit in really well. Beats are great, lyrics are thoughtful and there are some great guest stars as well. Will for sure listen to this in the future. Math guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

Somehow the first Smiths album in almost 700 days. It's good, not that great but good. It doesn't really have any of my favorite Smiths songs on it but it's an overall good album nonetheless. It's just the Smiths but more of it, really. Unhappy birthday is a fun song.

Beautiful to listen to. The entire album seems to gradually build up as it goes along. Lou Reeds voice is very monotone but it somewhat aids the albums atmosphere. Just well done all round.

Other 60's albums sound like they are enhanced in the studio, but this album sounds like it could have only been made in the studio. The distortion in combination with all the classical touches and overdubs sound really interesting and ahead of their time. The ideas don't always work out but there's a lot of great moments and it showcases just how far out music could go from here really well. Like some sort of demonic circus.

This is like, the Jazz album. If you don't like this one, you probably don't like Jazz to begin with. Playing is excellent, line up is stellar as well. Doesn't really ever get boring and there aren't many situations where this is a bad choice to play. Do I have much to say about it? Not really, but it's just really good.

Production on this is excellent, really influential and genre defining. Production alone does not really make for a great album however. There were definitely great songs on here, I really liked Lost in the World, Gorgeous and Power on here. The album gets into a bit of a lull around halfway and doesn't really get out of that. The lyrics were a bit hit or miss too, sometimes they're really powerful and other times they suck.

10cc is a fun band but they don't really have a consistent discography. This album has some good songs and a number of others that don't really add much to their catalog. Wall Street Shuffle is a great opener to begin with. I liked the blend of genres here and the fact that they don't take themselves too seriously. They kind of want to be every type of band at once. Not a bad album but I'd rather listen to the singles off this.

You can hear that a lot of thought and effort has been put in this. Every lick and note seems to have been carefully calibrated to deliver a perfect Trip Hop album. I find it fucking boring though. It's kind of weird and that it somewhat rewards attentive listening, but the nature of this genre is that it's very much background music. I just forget to really care for it, not my thing I guess.

This has to be the third 2004 album from this week. The definitive 2000's British Rock record for me, I prefer this over Arctic Monkeys and others. A bit short but a ton of fun and straight to the point songs. The guitar playing and vocals especially I quite dig. Shame they never had an album quite as good as this afterwards.

I expected this to be weirder than it was, kind of disappointed. All the ingredients of a Tom Waits album are there and it's certainly wackier than a conventional album, but I expected more after listening to the likes of Bone Machine. It's alright but not really more than that.

I only knew these guys from being the original writers of Amy Winehouse's Valerie, so I was kind of blind going into this. On one hand, it's a 2004 british indie album, the epitome of what people despise on this site. That said, this was a fun listen. Never felt boring, had some unique songwriting and was all around a pretty fun listen. The sax was noteworthy too. Very nice to see a 2000's indie album that is actually fun and upbeat. Still not really my thing but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Sort of in the middle on this. I like the opening track in particular and think the entire album has this nice Indie and Americana flair to it. Kind of sounds like America and Crosby, Stills & Nash without the vocal harmonies. It doesn't really outdo it's similar artists though and it does get to be a bit boring at times. Didn't really grab me but it was good enough.

My final Sonic Youth album on the list, and perhaps my favorite. Looking back I'd have probably given a few others of theirs a 5 as well. This feels like Sonic Youth at their best, great songs and noise without some of the endless sprawl of Daydream Nation. This strikes the right balance everywhere, album length is a perfect drive's worth as well.

Atmosphere setting for sure, it's both haunting and slightly uplifting at times. I really wonder how an album like this turned out to be such a huge hit in the 70's, it's good music but not necessarily mass appeal. That said, it does sound more accessible than a Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. The relative accessibility does hurt it a bit for me, it doesn't go all that crazy and it feels like the rest of the album is just the build up and comedown for the popular part IV.

Interesting album that is a lot more spacey than contemporary Shoegaze albums were at the time. Apparently it also leaned harder into Blues, but I only heard a little of that. It does feel like there are some old standards here buried between layers of drone and feedback, makes for a pretty unique album. It does get a bit same-same at times, the sprawled out spaceyness makes it more monotone than other Shoegaze albums, which can already have some boring moments to begin with. Album cover on streaming is a lot less cool than the cover shown here too.

Mainstream Rock & Roll died in the 2000's but I don't think Mylo gets the kill count for it. The songs worked well enough as background music but weren't really enough to sustain or reward a more attentive listening session. Has it's place I guess, wouldn't really say it is essential, but that goes for the majority of 2004 albums on this list. Namedropping a bunch of Muscle cars or better musicians also doesn't make for great lyricism.

Perhaps not as elusive and elite as his debut album, but still very good. His performances aren't as good here, but the songcraft here is just as good as any of his other best work. Lots of my favorite songs of his on here. Very worthy debut album with a collection of nice music. Sounds ominous for a lot of it, but ends on an uplifting note with Tonight will be fine.

This was pretty good. I like it when Blur really leans into their Britpop and Britishness, it gives the album more personality than their later works. Most songs here are fun and upbeat, quite a bit of variety too. Some songs dragged on for a bit too long, they'd be nice at first but then have 3 minutes of nothing tacked onto them. Still a fun album and a good effort.

Good to see a Billie Holiday album on here. Pretty much the only album representation of pre-war music, along with Sinatra, Duke Ellington and that weird Dagmar Krause album. I don't think this is as good as Billie Holiday's older songs. The leaps in recording quality and her age kind of expose her shortcomings as a vocalist. Her voice sounds a lot better when softly spoken into a horn directly connected to Shellac. The songs don't really do much for me either and don't necessarily sound like they are hers.