Reviews by littlestlassloves

This was really enjoyable. I think I have listened to Transformer in the past, but it didn't really leave an impression, however this play, while I was continuously trying to pay attention, was different.

Away from the (great) famous tracks, I really enjoyed New York Telephone Conversation and Goodnight Ladies for their general weirdness. Plus the latter is a piano and tuba song, which I very much appreciate. And I have always loved Satellite of Love.

I think this would be a 3.5 for me, but I'm rounding up because it's better than a 3.

4/5

It's lots of songs I don't know plus Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence!

I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I might while I was listening to it but nothing had left much of an imprint on my brain by the next day. I quite like the vocals even though most of the time the delivery makes it sound like they'd rather be doing anything else other than singing.

Personal Jesus is fabulous and the clear stand out, if just for the hook. Everything else was pleasant enough. I think this is a 2.5, but I'm going to be kind:

3/5

P.S. I was today's years old when I became aware Vince Clarke of Erasure was briefly in Depeche Mode.

The whiplash change of emotions during the first 5 minutes:

- Oh, bluegrass! I should enjoy this!
- 2 HOURS, 10 MINUTES! FFS!
- Why is this song starting with a lady rambling about playing a song on the autoharp for so long?
- Oh! It's Keep On The Sunny Side! I like this song.

I am one of the people who went to see O Brother, Where Art Thou? and immediately went to buy the soundtrack when the credits started rolling. My Uncle, once retired, bought multiple banjos, taught himself how to play and would play bluegrass standards for us whenever we went to see him. I have seen Hayseed Dixie live multiple times. This is definitely My Kinda Thing...

... But not for over two hours on a weekday. I could have very happily listened to this while cooking Sunday lunch or doing housework at the weekend - it would have put a pep in my step! - but it outstayed its welcome on a Wednesday morning (and afternoon as it covered both my journey to and from work).

There's a very good chance this could have been a 5, but the length and random chats from bluegrass stars knocked this down to a 4.

4/5

I was a British teenager who consumed a lot of music during the 90s and I have never heard of Shack. Reading the Wiki, I recognise basically every other adjacent band mentioned but them (I was surprised to hear one of them ended up in Cast, who I remember weirdly fondly).

Under my "just because it's dull, that can't make it a 1 star" rating system, I think this gets a 2. It's fine, just not that interesting and I have nothing to really say about it.

2/5

Look, I mostly prefer my Beach Boys Brian Wilson-shaped and this album is very much BW-lite in the vocals. I miss the multi layered vocals a lot - they're still here obviously (the title track being an obvious example) but not as Beach Boysy as normal. However, this is a really interesting Beach Boys album because it does feel so different to their hits. Darker. A bit more melancholic (coupled with it's gentle cheesyness).

That being said, Student Demonstration Time is, erm... weird. I'm not sure what message Mike Love was aiming for but it comes across a bit "look, war is bad, but you can't stop it, so just forget about it". Which is, erm, yeah...

But then Feel Flows happens and that's great, with the flute warbling in the right ear (I'm genuinely dead against noodling, but for some reason find it charming here) and nice vocals.

I think I have a sort of baseline level for The Beach Boys where I don't think anything can truly be poor, which means nothing is ever getting a poor score. This album is at the lower end for me, but that's still a good score. As no half stars, I'm going for 3 but just know I very much think it's a solid 3.5.

3/5

I was interested in hearing this, given my Kendrick experience is solely Drake-beef adjacent.

I liked King Kunta, Alright, How Much A Dollar Cost and i (though that track mostly because I love the track it samples - I lost interest in the talky bit). And that was about it.

I recognise how massively influential this was, and continues to be. Its blend of styles is admirable, and interesting, but just not enjoyable to my ears. I do like quite a lot of hip-hop (it's one of my top rated genres on the generator after about 10 months of rating) but it's tended to be the older stuff that I enjoy rather than more modern experimental stuff.

And then it ended with another 12 minute track that was mostly a chat... Judging by this album, Kendrick isn't for me.

I really should get out of the habit of opening Amazon Music and instantly checking the length of the album. It means that when you instantly turn against a vocalist, you immediately get the double whammy of knowing there's going to be nearly 2 hours of this.

I did not like this. Occasionally it musically sounded like a certain era of REM (see Leperskin as an example) and it just made me think about how great REM were. Beautiful Love reminded me of So You Wanna Be a Boxer from Bugsy Malone but with terrible sounding brass synths.

One of the top reviews says "It feels aggressively artful." and I misread it as "aggressively awful" which is far more accurate.

1/5

After last time surprising myself by giving ln Utero a 4/5, following Unplugged's 3/5, let's see how Nevermind fairs.

Smells Like Teen Spirit being one of the most influential songs in history is an undeniable fact but it still seems surprising to me. It's also hard to judge it solely as a song, separated from its history. Its too big.

In Bloom and Come As You Are better than Teen Spirit but I can't tell if its just than I've heard them (a teeny tiny bit) less. I do love the bassline in the latter, so that certainly contributes. The final single, Lithium plays with the quiet-loud dynamic better than many similar tracks, and again, I like the bass. They picked great singles.

Of the album tracks I like Breed, Territorial Pissing and Stay Away as they're pretty punky and so my kinda thing (the drums on the latter are great). Polly and Lounge Act not so much. I just don't like Kurt's voice enough to balance out not liking the instrumentation.

Its a weird experience listening to Nirvana for me. Their music is something I should be obsessed by: I like punk and a lot of heavier music, and I was not far off becoming a teenager when these albums were released, so prime "life altering music" period. I can also objectively see why they became so big, and why they're so influential, but they don't grab me in the way I'd expect. I never think "I'll put on some Nirvana" when I want to listen to music.

I think I enjoy Nevermind more than Unplugged but less than In Utero, which makes it like a 3.5, but it's no way a 3 so:

4/5

Henry Rollins is a genuinely fascinating guy. His long term anti-homophobia stance, his outspoken views about US politicians sending young people to their deaths in pointless wars, his weird friendship with William Shatner. And I really like a lot of punk, so this should be a 5 star for me...

It isn't.

I like the music quite a lot, but I don't think Rollins is a great lead vocalist. After I finished this album, I let Amazon autoplay and I got Bad Religion, The Ramones, Minor Threat, the Buzzcocks, the Clash all of which I love. All of which have better vocals (even Minor Threat).

Rise Above is probably the stand out track (and incidentally one of the most melodic) but I really like the bassline in What I See and TV Party (which is a clapping song - yay!).

My issues with the vocals makes rating this difficult. Because we're at a 3 or 4 for the instrumental but around a 2 for the vocal and lyrics. I'm going to settle on:

3/5

(But I still think Henry Rollins is awesome)

Another album where I only knew the singles (one of which has been stuck in my head for the last 3 weeks due to a cover I heard) so I was really happy to see this appear.

"You are the only thing, in any room you're ever in, I'm stubborn, selfish and too old" from Starlings is such a great lyric to set a mood. Mind you that track already set the mood by deafening me as I'd turned up the volume on the gentle bits only to be attacked by the horns. Loved it.

And the lyrics that make me smile continue into track 2: "Overdraft speeches and deadlines to make, cramming commitments like cats in a sack". They have a way with words.

I continued to really enjoy the tracks until we got to Grounds For Divorce: I ADORE Grounds For Divorce. The lyrics are great, the hook is incredible. It's an insanely catchy song with a really interesting melody. If I could give it more than a 5 as a single track, I absolutely would.

There's then, for me, a slight lull but only because it would be impossible to keep up that level. I still really enjoyed the songs though. Of the album tracks I didn't know, I think my favourite would be The Fix, with local lad Richard Hawley. I very much enjoyed the Specials-like backing vocals.

One Day Like This is a behemoth that broke containment. I think basically any person in the UK would recognise the hook, even if they couldn't name the song. I once heard the band play this as I lay in the grass in the sun and confetti gently floated down on top of me. I remember nothing else about their set (my fault not theirs, I was sleep deprived and drunk) but that one moment formed a core memory for me. That song is meant to be sung by crowds.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a sucker for brass and there's a lot sprinkled throughout this album. And strings! I went into this thinking I'd probably like this album, but now I'm considering buying a copy.

5/5

Sometimes when an album by an artist I've not heard of turns up, I try and guess the genre based on the album cover alone, then press play. There was never any doubt about this one.

That country twang is something that I tend to really struggle with (Dolly excepted of course). But this guy is funny:

"Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naïve,
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve"

He's also angry: 'Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" is lyrically great even if it's not my kinda music. Given that only a few days ago the US President started bombing Iran and I woke up to the news that six US soldiers are dead (the article glossed over the increasing death toll of local civilians obviously) and headlines like "Donald Trump boasts about $400m ballroom after paying tribute to US soldiers killed in Iran", this seems pretty relevant. Which given we're 55 years on from this album's release, is just depressing.

I was surprised that I sort of enjoyed bits of this album. Don't get me wrong, it's not turned me into a country fan but I liked this more than I expected and I appreciate the storytelling if nothing else.

Very much a 2.5 for me, but I'm rounding up because he made me laugh and then made me angry.

3/5

I discovered during this listen that 56 minutes of Anthony Kiedis's singing in one go, is too much Anthony Kiedis for me. His vocals are distinctive but pass over into annoying very easily.

However there are some really good songs on this album. Scar Tissue is the highlight of the singles for me, but I also like Californication a lot. There are some pleasant enough album tracks too.

Then there are some absolute stinkers. I mean, did the world need Get On Top or I like Dirt? I suspect RHCPs think they're sexy as hell during some of these songs, but they were in their mid to late 30s during this period and it's just cringey.

Overall, I think this is just scraping a

3/5

Well objectively this should be a 1 because it's technically dreadful, both instrumentally and vocally. But on the odd occasion, I actually didn't hate it. I even vaguely enjoyed the Heard It Through The Grapevine cover.

So, I can't justify it in any way, but this is getting:

2/5

Hmmmm... I'm not sure you really should take against a whole album based on the opening note, but I fear I did. However, as first instincts go, it seemed to be pretty dead on for my opinion on the full album.

I hated the vocals. Absolutely despised them. I realised there's a good reason she sounds that way on this record but that doesn't mean I am going to enjoy it... It was genuinely difficult to say motivated to listen right to the end. And the last track? WTF!?

Longest 37 minutes of my life.

1/5

I enjoyed this album a lot.

Highpoints:

- I adored Come Alive.
- The melody in the chorus in Locked In sounds like Mario Kart, which somehow made me like it more. Also, I'm always a sucker for clap-clap songs.
- I enjoyed Big Boi turning up on Tightrope.
- It's so diverse in sound, surely there's a track for everyone here. Bond-like in places. Full pop in others. Plus a bit of pure soul. And 50s TV shows. Parts that are channelling Prince. And Bowie.
- I really like her voice.
- "Classy brass".

Lows

- Honestly not too much.
- A whole track of reversed lyrics wasn't too fun (Neon Gumbo).
- Say You'll Go morphing into Clair De Lune was not my favourite.
- And it's pretty long.

This was another album I'd been meaning to listen to for ages. And it was really good, so I'm glad the Generator was benevolent.

4/5

I really enjoyed this. So many classic singles (including my favourite, Turn) and the album tracks are good too. I have always liked Fran Healy's voice just never listened to a full album. I don't really have a lot to say about the record though. They write an excellent pop-rock hook and as a result these sings are very catchy.

I imagine they have also attracted a lot of complaints from non-Brits about "more shitty britpop on the generator" despite this not being Britpop. If so, it's their loss.

4/5

Oh... oh dear...

Jonathan Davis is an acquired taste as a vocalist. And I have not acquired it. I had only heard Freak on A Leash going into this which I thought was grudgingly ok(ish). Everything else was new to me.

I like the guitars on most of the tracks. I like the heaviness. And I didn't hate Ice Cube turning up.

As for everything else, I think the low point is Fred Durst turning up (and increasing all the homophobia), but I'm not sure the bagpipes on the next song were much better.

This is essentially an irredeemable album for me. At one point I started daydreaming about Faith No More, and how much I'd rather have been listening to them.

Just no.

1/5

I'm one of those rare people who has heard all the singles (repeatedly) but never listened to an album... and yet is indifferent to Coldplay. They exist and I've never really felt the need to dig deeper, but I also don't understand why they get so much hate or end up the butt of so many jokes.

Before we get to the run of massive singles, I actually really liked Politik as an opener - it's dramatic and urgent and a great start. Of the singles, I think I have just heard some of these songs too much and the over exposure has not been kind. Except God Put A Smile Upon Your Face exists and I have always and will always love that song. Rolling Stone described it as "slinky" which is a perfect word for it.

Onto the other album tracks, I liked Green Eyes' honky-tonk sound. The Whisper was also really enjoyable and I liked Amsterdam (though Chris Martin sounds very different during chunks of it which threw me slightly).

This is a very solid album, with undeniably massive appeal, which generated some global mega hits.

If I had half stars, this would be a 3.5, but even though I'm not sure it's totally for me (I like it and can see the quality, but it doesn't grab me emotionally like many other records do) it deserves more than a 3, so:

4/5

Just a beautiful voice on some classic songs. I think I'd happily listen to Otis Redding sing the phone book in his gorgeous raspy voice. He's so emotive. The whole album was a very pleasant listen and with plenty of brass, which always makes me happy. A very tight run time of 32 minutes made this one of those rare times I wish the album were longer.

I would say that Respect is a *very* different song when sung by a man. I realise it was his song originally, but Aretha's cover is the definitive version. It's a teeny bit creepy when sung from the point of view of the working man coming home to his perfect housewife - like the type of thing an alt-right dude wanting a tradwife would say.

Despite my minor niggles with lyrical content, this is a beautiful record and I would say well worth a:

4/5

Two Kate Bush albums in less than a month on the Generator. This one as weird as the last one.

I start off liking the weirdness and then towards the end start thinking it's a bit much. I love her voice when she's just plain singing, but the random voices and shouty bits just becomes *a lot* over a full album - especially when they just become silly voices like those I'd have done while reading books to my kid when they were a toddler. I thought the it was the fault of the b-side being "conceptual" on Hounds of Love, but the same thing happened here. Houdini for example is great musically, lovely when she is singing in her standard vocals, but then the comedy voices happen and it loses me.

I really wanted to like this more than I did in practice. There is so much about it that should make it a 5 star album to me, but then there's a noise like someone is strangling a cat or pretending to be Eeyore and I'm rolling my eyes.

2/5