Reviews by linkyboy

I went into this expecting not to be impressed. After all, how can an album of improvised jazz piano be one of the most essential albums to listen to?

But it was beautiful, exciting, and full of ideas. I actually quite liked it. Nonetheless, Keith Jarrett didn’t spend hours crafting the pieces, so it’s not as noteworthy, right?

Lately I’ve been watching “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” It’s one of the funniest shows ever made—so quotable, memorable, hilarious. It is great largely BECAUSE it was improvised.

It has made me realize my bias with this album. Just like “Whose Line,” this album is great because it is improvised. That is part of what makes it so special.

Biggie was certainly a generational talent—his flow, his wordplay, his attitude, his storytelling, all just awesome. Anything he set out to do on this album, he succeeded in doing.

What knocks it down from 5 stars to 4 is some of the skits. Not all were bad, but I’ll never forgive Puffy for making me listen to the 30 straight seconds of wetness at the end of “Respect.”

This is an album full of great punk rock instrumental performances undermined by mediocre vocals and melodies. I loved what the guitars and bass were doing throughout. But the vocals lacked energy or something. I mean, this came out in 1978, just a year before “London Calling” and “Singles Going Steady,” and two years after “Ramones.” And while the band arrangements could hold up against those albums, the vocals simply cannot.

A shame, because it almost was great.

I don’t know how to appraise this. I feel truly neutral. The album repeated itself on my phone, and I only realized it started over when it occurred to me the album was incredibly long.

3. But not a 3 for “pretty good.” A 3 for “I dunno.”

It’s certainly not a bad album, but I spent the whole time kind of wondering what was the point of any of the songs. Certainly energetic and well mixed/produced. But there was little for me to latch onto. “Golden Skans” was a good track.

I’ve been oscillating between whether to give this 2 or 3 stars. I think given what I’ve already put in the 3 star category, I should knock it down a peg, but I liked it better than anything I’ve given a 2 to… I also regret giving the Kings of Leon album 3 stars (should have been 2), and this album is making me think of that one. Do I punish Klaxons for the sins of Kings of Leon. Yeah, I think I will…

I wasn’t super impressed with the first track—nothing wrong with it, but it didn’t seem to be anything special. But I loved the second track, “Dishes,” and it completely changed how I heard the rest of the album.

There’s a definite Bowie influence here. The thing I like about Britpop is the catchiness it has compared to grunge, and though this album has some darkness to it, the songs remain catchy, memorable, and fun. There are some sonic similarities to Super Furry Animals (who I adore), but this feels less experimental and a bit more grounded.

Tracks 2-4 are top notch. “I’m A Man” and “Sylvia” are also bangers.

After my first listen, I wasn’t certain how I was going to rate it. I gave it a second listen and enjoyed it more the second time through. I think I’m probably going to grow to like this album more with repeated listens. I think though I’d probably give it a 4.5 if I could, I’m going to round down because it didn’t grab me as effectively on first listen. But I have a feeling I may one day regret giving it only a 4.

EDIT: It's been two years since this initial listen, but I've come to absolutely adore Pulp—and it all started with this album. I don't think "This is Hardcore" is a perfect record, but it has a viewpoint, great songs, and launched my personal love for Pulp and Jarvis Cocker. "The Fear" has grown on me considerably, but it really works best when compared to the music Pulp had released up to that point. "Dishes" remains a favorite. "Like A Friend" is another all-timer for me (though I know it technically doesn't come from this album). Anyway, all things considered, I have come to regret that initial 4 star rating, and have come to rectify it.

Morrissey is the person who I find myself needing to separate the art from artist the most. I love him as an artist—his sardonic and twisted lyrics, his strange yet beautiful voice, his gloomy and catchy melodies. And yet, he’s so problematic…

And so it’s strange to listen to an album like this which is deeply political, and which I actually agree with most of his positions (or at the very least, can respect them).

I do love The Smiths’ sound —Johnny Marr’s jangly guitars and Andy Rourke’s melodic bass lines are also standout elements. The songwriting on this album isn’t as good as on their follow-up “The Queen Is Dead,” but frankly (Mr Shankly), it would be hard to accomplish that.

Cat Stevens is arguably the artist that had the most profound impact on me as a songwriter. Memorable melodies, inventive harmonies, and just all around excellent acoustic rock. It’s easy to think he’s simply another folk artist, but just listen to those choruses on “On The Road to Find Out” and tell me that he isn’t rocking.

This album features several of his best and most well-known songs: “Where Do The Children Play,” “Wild World,” “Hard Headed Woman.” But my favorite is “Father and Son”—beautiful, heartbreaking, impassioned, clever.

I love Cat Stevens and this is without a doubt his crowning achievement. An easy 5/5 for me.

If there’s any album on this list that is here off the back of one song, it’s this one. “Take On Me” is an undeniably excellent (and iconic) song. Nothing else on the album really reaches its heights. The other tracks are well produced and the vocals are nice, but everything else feels like, “Yup, that definitely sounds like it’s from the 80s.”

I also struggled to finish this album—I got it two weeks ago. After a few tracks, I’d always get bored and feel ready to move on to something else. On my third attempt to complete it, I finally did. And that’s crazy, because it’s only 37 minutes long.

When I was 11, iTunes used to have these albums called “iTunes Originals” where artists would play a live set of music in the iTunes studio and offer some commentary on songs. At least, I think that’s how it worked. In any case, I remember browsing through the library and I was both frightened and mesmerized by the image for Bjork’s iTunes Originals photo. I pressed play and heard her whisper-speak in an ethereal voice “iTunes Originals,” and I got scared. Ever since then, that has been my association with Bjork.

But today, I got “Life’s Too Good” by The Sugarcubes, and found myself enjoying it. Seemed like some sort of cross between the B-52s and The Cranberries, with a pinch of eeriness mixed in. I went to look up more information about the album, and find out that the woman I’ve been listening to all this time was Bjork! Color me surprised! (And then not surprised, as I thought more about it.)

I liked it, but I don’t know if I agree with contemporary opinions that it was groundbreaking or stretching the boundaries of what rock could be. 1988 doesn’t seem early enough for this particular sound to be groundbreaking. Nonetheless, an interesting album with a unique sound and perspective that introduced the world to the most widely known Icelandic artist. That’s certainly worth something.

Months ago, I told someone that I didn’t really get Kate Bush. Maybe it was something about her songwriting, or voice, or… something? It was never clear to me. I liked her contributions to Peter Gabriel’s albums, but never really got into any of her singles.

But I am changed. I am a new man. Because this album is brilliant. I think she’s an artist who can’t be considered off of her singles—she’s an album artist. The pop songs on the first half are the perfect counterbalance to the challenging, curious back half. And to learn that she not only sang and wrote these songs, but also produced the whole album? Very impressive.

Anyway, if you need me, I’ll be over here wiping the egg off my face.

I always feel guilty giving fewer than 4 stars an album that I enjoy and would add to my library. This is one of those times. I love this sound, the catchy Beatles-esque melodies, the clean cut, fun production. But it’s so sanitary, so safe, so… well, lame, really. The Monkees are complicated because in a way, they were the prototype for the ultra-commercialized corporate-type bands that would dominate the Billboard charts in years to come. Yet, they have a lot of nice songs.

I think that’s the other thing though. Nice doesn’t mean great. In fact, a lot of the time, ugly is great. I think this album is good, but not amazing, and there was much more creatively notable music that sounds similar from this time—for one, “Begin” by The Millennium, which doesn’t appear on this list. And so, though I like this album, I can’t give it higher than a 3/5.

I love Blood, Sweat and Tears and I love this album. To me they get the rock part of jazz-rock better than just about anybody. Such tightness in the band, amazing musicianship in each instrumentalist, and David Clayton-Thomas’s gruff vocals are so powerful and earthy. And I think the melodic bass lines had a profound impact on me as a songwriter.

The opening track was my introduction to Erik Satie, who I consider to be one of my all time favorite composers. “And When I Die” and “Spinning Wheel” are amazing songs that just go so hard.

It’s not a perfect album, but it’s a damn good one!

What happens when you take one of the old blues masters from the 50s, and place him in the late 70s—the era of distortion and hard rock. You get a hard rock-blues album, steeped in tradition but beating you over the head with its sheer power. The collaboration with Johnny Winter clearly payed off. Big props to Johnny Winter for understanding that to update the Muddy Waters sound, he needed to simply crank up the Blues.

Muddy Waters was 64 when this album was released and despite his, sounds as badass as ever. The distorted hoops and hollers on “Manish Boy” are invigorating.

I just find The Rolling Stones so mediocre, and this album is no exception. Even its best song, “Sympathy for the Devil,” drags on way too long. I’ll never understand why they are so well regarded… to some degree, I feel like I’m missing out on something…

I love this kind of thing—psychedelic, bizarre, folky, funny. I enjoyed their use of unconventional song structure and ethno-folk traditions (really working the WEFT in there before it was chic).

Some of the material ran on for too long or felt rather made up on the spot, but as far as creating something unique and experimental, and evidently influential, it earns the 4 stars.

Remember that YouTube video of the shirtless teenage boy saying “Hey baby girl, it’s okay baby, I love you more than there are grains of sand on all the beaches…?”

This is the auditory equivalent of that.

This album sounds like 2002, in a bad way. “Cry Me A River” is a good track, and the album is well produced, but the whole thing oozes with this awkward, performative “sexiness” that is hard to take seriously.

I adore ELO and consider “Mr Blue Sky” to be favorite song. So it should come as no surprise that I give Out of the Blue the full 5 stars.

Sure, the lyrics are nothing to write home about, but they’re not really the point. Jeff Lynne is an absolute genius at crafting catchy melodies and sparkling maximalist production, and that is what this album is all about. So many classic tracks: “Turned to Stone,” “Wild West Hero,” “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” “Jungle,” (I could go on). I love it.

Chooka Chooka Hoo La Ley!

I liked this album musically. Tupac certainly had a compelling cadence, and the beats were smooth and fun. I appreciate the introspection expressed on the album, and there’s no denying the influence he had on subsequent rappers, like Kendrick Lamar.

But… I have trouble squaring the context around the album—the sexual violence and gun violence that led him to prison during the album’s released, referenced on the first track. “Me Against The World” as a phrase loses some meaning when you have been the perpetrator of violence, even if societal pressures led to some of those actions. It taints the album in a way that makes it ultimately distasteful when there isn’t a lot of owning up to his own mistakes on the album.

I like the title track, which opens the album in a high energy, exciting fashion. But as the album continues, I find little that is new or interesting. I’m not crazy about country music, and this album in particular has a bit too much hokeyness for my taste. But it has its moments.