Reviews by linkyboy

A solid album of gangsta rap from Ice Cube, somewhat undercut by his goofy acting career in the years that have followed. The beats are the highlight of the record, though Ice Cube's political commentary is interesting. As with NWA, it is rather unsavory in its misogyny and violence, and doesn't quite live up to the magnitude of "Straight Outta Compton." I found "It's a Man's World" to be an interesting counterbalance to the sexist themes that had permeated the album up to that point.

A good guitarist and songwriter, cursed with the voice of a muppet. Every time I start grooving to one of his songs, he starts whining over it, completely taking it. I’ve ALWAYS had this problem with Neil Young, and I don’t really understand why most people don’t. This album is no exception. I tried to like it, but Beaker should never have learned to talk.

It’s better than a lot of the albums I’ve given 2 stars to… so I’m inclined to round it up to a 3. But I might need to revisit that later.

I love “Tigermilk,” but “If You’re Feeling Sinister” has never captured me in the same way. I enjoy the strange lyrics, and the production on B&S albums always sounds crisp and clean, and this record is no exception. But this album didn’t have any songs that stick around in my head after listening, unlike “Tigermilk” or “Dear Catastrophe Waitress.” I recognize that this album was very influential, and it does seem that it should have been released 10 years after it actually did, but I just feel rather middling about it. It does feel hard to imagine Sufjan Stevens or The Shins without this album. Their music tends to reward repeat listens, and I might feel differently after spending more time with this album.

It's wild how far Kanye West has fallen since his debut—"The College Dropout" is fresh, fun, groovy, memorable, and humorous. While he's a serviceable rapper, he really shines as a producer. People who don't listen to wrap may not understand that the "genius of Kanye" lies not in his lyrics, but in his beats. His descent into MAGA and antisemitism 20 years after his iconic "George Bush doesn't care about black people" moment has left a devastating mark on his legacy. Regardless of where he's ended up, he was a great artist and "The College Dropout" is a great first record.

It sounds like the band figured out what their shtick was over the course of this album. And that is what it is: shtick. One of the shtickiest bands of all time.

I knew that going into this. But, the first half of this album actually surprised me. It was fun, catchy, well performed, and the themes weren’t quite as creepy-coded as I thought they’d be. It seemed like a surprise 4-star power pop gem.

But then the shtick kicked in, and the final few songs were as eyerollingly macabre as I’d gone in expecting from Alice Cooper. Look, it’s fun, it’s kitschy, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s a bit too goofy for my taste.

So, a surprise 4-star first half, and an expected 2-star second half. It averages out to 3.

I kind of loved this. It was different than anything else I’ve gotten on this list, and though I find the idea of including a film soundtrack to be a little against the spirit of things, I’m very glad to have listened. Bollywood has such a distinctive sound. Full of allusions, eastern and western instrumentation, rollicking bass lines, and melodies that will stay lodged in my head. Strange choices mixed in just right to give it character. I wasn’t expecting to like this so much. I often feel unable to rate foreign language albums appropriately, but Salimar has made me reconsider that notion. Because it’s excellent.

I’ve been aware of Siouxsie Sioux for a while, and I’ve been meaning to give her a listen. What an excellent introduction this was. Eclectic, haunting, driving, melodic. The arrangements were inventive, the guitars/synths were dialed in to precise and interesting tones that really elevated the whole album. This is one I know I'll be coming back to. I listened to the first track three times before I was ready to move on from it. That's worth something!

I’ll start with this: I like this album, I like the music, I like Morrissey’s voice, I like his humorous and sardonic lyrics. That’s just true, and I can’t help it. Yet, I agonized over how to rate this album—3 stars or 4 stars—and it all comes down to Morrissey the person when weighed against Morrissey the lyricist.

See, I can more easily separate the Art from the Artist for his work with the Smiths. After all, there were three other members of the band, and Morrissey’s opinions slowly devolved over time. On “Your Arsenal,” he gets political, but his politics were also starting to wither.

There’s a strange tension between the ideas Morrissey satirizes and the inflammatory things he has later expressed. “We’ll Let You Know” seems to be an ironic critique of the people who would say “we are the last truly British people you've ever known,” but then, he has espoused the “dangers” of islam and immigration into London. And his song “The National Front Disco” similarly seems to make fun of National Front members, but he would endorse a far right political party only a few years later.

What made this situation more confounding was the discourse I’d see when searching about these songs. Some people would say, “He clearly is being critical of those ideas!” While others would say, “It’s not racist to want immigrants out of England” (sidebar: it is). So… I don’t know.

I guess I’ll settle on this. Morrissey is a great artist, but a complicated man. We knew this. And while I like “Your Arsenal,” I can be at peace with giving it 3 stars, because it made me work to hard to figure out how to rate it.

This is a nice album. But nice doesn't mean great. The best moments are when James Taylor is at his most singer-songwriter-y: "Fire and Rain," "Sweet Baby James," "Country Roads." The worst moments are when he goes bluesy, which feels tonally disconnected from the rest of the album.

I like the album. But it feels too saccharine too many times. I'll always prefer James Taylor in "Greatest Hits" form.

Also, it's hilarious to name your debut album "Sweet Baby James" if your name is James.

I must admit that I’ve often overlooked the Arctic Monkeys. But hearing this debut, it’s clear what their instant appeal was. This is post-punk guitar rock paired with some real songwriting. It feels gritty and honest. The album cover reminds me of the photo on the front of the book “Among the Thugs”—it creates a filter that you hear the whole album through.

This is a tough review to write because there was a time when I would have given this a 5/5. In fact, upon seeing this album pop up, I thought 5/5 was within reach! But after giving it my full attention for the first time in 15 years, I feel that even a 4/5 isn't quite correct.

In many ways, I love Yes. They've written some of my favorite musical moments—and some of them are on this album. But, like so much of prog, there are also a lot of moments that seem to exist for stroking the band members' egos, rather than contributing to the song. It's maximalist to a fault, overwritten and under-felt.

I saw a video of Rick Rubin working with Flea on "Give It Away." Rubin keeps telling Flea to "give it space" and not to be "too note-y." Yes could have really used a producer with that mindset on Fragile.

"Long Distance Runaround" is a great and underrated track though. No notes on that one (except for the many, many notes throughout it).

You know how Kim Kardashian is famous for being famous? I think the Yardbirds are too. Without the legacies of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, The Yardbirds would have been another obscure act buried in a list of British Invasion bands on Wikipedia. But, because we must hear the most famous guitarist-uterus in rock, we get "Roger the Engineer," a 36-minute collection of mediocre-to-bad tracks with occasionally inspired guitar work. The opening track features a melody that rivals anything written by The Shaggs. Even the high points of this record ("Over Under Sideways Down," "Jeff's Boogie") do little to stay in mind.

These are my favorite kinds of albums to get on the list: something I’ve never heard before, something mostly forgotten, something I know will enter my regular rotation. Grunge alongside power pop. I’m curious to check out Sugar’s later albums!

In sixth grade, I had my first iPod, an iTunes gift card, and knew approximately two pop bands (The Beatles and, bizarrely, the Barenaked Ladies). Knowing my dad was a fan of The Who, I asked him what song of theirs I should buy for my iPod. He suggested “Squeeze Box”—an insane choice to recommend to your pubescent son, but the sexual innuendo flew right over my head.

One day, I stayed home from school with the flu, and as I lay in bed, Robitussin staining the bedsheets, I grew bored of the twenty songs I’d been listening to on repeat. I went to the CD cabinet, and came across a chunky case: “Tommy” by The Who. My interest had been piqued by “Squeeze Box,” so I brought it upstairs, popped disc 1 in my boom box, brought the liner notes back to bed, and listened/read through the whole album in one sitting. Never before or since has a concept album captured me in quite the same way—in fact, it’s safe to say this was the album that made me fall in love with listening to ALBUMS, and not just singles.

The first proper Rock Opera, “Tommy” is not just a great collection of rock songs, but a masterclass in storytelling through songwriting. And unlike “The Wall,” (another favorite of mine), most tracks on “Tommy” can stand on their own well. One of the greatest albums ever written, and one of my favorites.

Here’s the thing about The Magnetic Fields: I love them, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. Sometimes the production of their songs is strange, some of their songs are actively bad, but all in all, I love their strange sound and I love Stephin Merritt’s dark sense of humor and one-of-a-kind perspective. 69 Love Songs is certainly what they are most well known for, an album that is really about love songs, rather than about love. Many of the songs on it are amazing. A few suck. I kind of think that’s part of the charm.

Favorite tracks: “All My Little Words,” “I Don’t Want To Get Over You,” “The Book of Love,” “No One Will Ever Love You”

For a former musical theater kid, it’s hard for me not to like ABBA. I wasn’t familiar with any of these tracks before listening, but I enjoyed them. Did I feel blown away? No. But I didn’t find much to fault. It’s a good time, slickly produced, well performed.

I always appreciate an artist who went out of their way to try new things. There’s something deeply compelling, hypnotic even, about the deliberately lo-fi beats paired with Gibbons’ ethereal-yet-clear vocals. Though I don't think this will enter my regular rotation, I'm glad to have listened to it, and I think it definitely deserves a place on this list.

An enigmatic album, very much a product of its own creation, and unlike anything that had come before it. It's not that Paul Simon invented these South African music systems, but he did write a tremendous album and collaborated with these incredible musicians, bringing an awareness and appreciation to an audience that would have otherwise remained ignorant. In the complicated balance between cultural appropriation and appreciation, I think it tips the scale in appreciation's favor. It also has some of his greatest post-Garfunkel songs: "You Can Call Me Al," "Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes," "Homeless," and of course, "Graceland."

Dexy’s Midnight Runners has to be the most blatantly overrepresented artist on the entire list. 3 albums is crazy for a band who most people would think of as a one hit wonder. Frankly, it pisses me off that this record was selected when it was a commercial and critical failure upon its release, and has seemingly little-to-no influence on culture.

I liked it well enough, though at times, I found it annoying or cynical. But it loses some points for simply not deserving inclusion on this list.

I adore this album, and simply cannot separate it from the nostalgia it provokes within me. I remember my dad buying this on CD when I was in seventh grade. We listened to the entire thing in the car while driving in Maine to go skiing. I vividly remember sitting in the passenger seat, gripped by every riff, every shriek, studying the liner notes closely, trying to understand this massive record. It felt revelatory to me. It was only when I bought my dad Dark Side of the Moon for his birthday, and I never heard him play it after I downloaded it to my iPod, that I realized he'd gotten The Wall for my benefit. He knew it was something I should hear. He was right.

This album, more than any other Pink Floyd album, is the one where Roger Waters and David Gilmour had fully figured out the roles their voices played in conveying emotions. The solos in "Comfortably Numb" are the greatest solos ever committed to recording. There are so many incredible moments throughout the record, and even the stranger, less listenable songs do an excellent job of telling the story when in context.

Favorite tracks: "Comfortably Numb," "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2," "Mother," "Goodbye Blue Sky," "Young Lust," "One of My Turns," "Hey You," and "Run Like Hell."