Reviews by littlestlassloves

Firstly, this is a very confusing album name / cover art combo.

Secondly, I think a lot of the songs on this record are beautiful but the vocal delivery is *weird*. I think I could get into this a lot more if Bill actually sounded like he wanted to be there - he sounds so dispassionate. It's certainly giving Shatner in places, if Bill was feeling particularly dispondant on the day of recording.

Thirdly, there should be more nonsense words in songs.

Fourthly, just because someone sings with a little bit of a twang, doesn't make them country. The genre classification for this record makes no sense to me. It's far more modern folky than country.

Not entirely sure where this leaves me, but I think previous albums where I mostly really liked the music but not the vocal delivery have tended to get a 3. So while the same would have happened here, the pointlessly long and repetitive last song broke me, so

2/5

This was odd. At times it sounded extremely 1970s and at other times very modern. The vocals, set back so much in the mix, frequently reminded me of Gorilliaz, but then Spray reminded me of Yes.

John Peel, quote about Moonshake is fantastic - it was "great", but its chances of becoming a hit were "roughly comparable to his chances of being asked to join Ivy Benson's All-Girl Orchestra on harp".

Everything except Moonshake could have benefited from a good trim to get to a sensible song length, especially Bel Air. I'm starting to develop a new aversion to records where one entire side of the vinyl was dedicated to a single song.

Their sound weirdly started to grow on me a bit over the course of the record, so I think this would have been a 2.5 had I been allowed half stars. I'm rounding down though because no song needs to be 20 minutes long.

2/5

It took nearly a minute for the lyrics to start. I expect this madness from prog rock but, much as I don't like it much as a genre, I expected more from post punk. But then he started singing, and part of me longed for the pre-vocals period.

Stray thoughts:

- This Is The Day is alright.
- This album is aggressively 80s.
- I wonder how many songs have the clap/pause/clap/pause/clap/pause/clap-clap/pause rhythm thing in them?
- What the hell is the noise at the beginning of Uncertain Smile?!
- I looked it up: its a xylimba.
- I like the piano on Uncertain Smile (EDIT: Oh, Jools Holland!) but this song feels like it's been going on forever...
- And it bloody finished on a fade out! Unnecessary!
- I got distracted during The Twilight Hour and discovered the guy who played trumpet on this record also played trumpet on I Will Cure You by Vic Reeves.
- Soul Mining is also alright... And as soon as I wrote that, it went all plinkly plonky and it was no longer alright.
- somehow Giant increased the 80s-ness. I'm surprised that was possible.
- there's a second The The album on this list?! Yet again I complain at the complete absence of They Might Be Giants.
- Giant descends into drumming which I assume is supposed to evoke African music based on the call and response vocals, but made me think of roadworks.

This is a 2. I don't dislike it enough to be a 1, nor like it enough to be a 3. In another universe where I'm allowed half stars, it might have even scraped a 2.5. Maybe.

2/5

Oooh, this is going to be hard/impossible to rate objectively...

I was obsessed with Green Day from the age of 14 due to being the exact correct age when Dookie came out for it to blow my mind, and that obsession carried on for about 10 years (and recently got resurrected for the release of Saviours). Which is to say, there is so much emotion and nostalgia tied up with this period that there is no objective lens to view 10 years of Green Day albums through, this included.

This is not my favourite Green Day album (that title goes to Warning, an album considered a commercial failure, but that for me, was their most beautifully weird record) but the margins between my favourite Green Day albums and the Green Day albums almost universally accepted as "The Best ™️" during this period, are tiny.

American Idiot (the album) is bloody ambitious for a pop punk band. American Idiot (the song) carries on being hugely relevant and makes you pine for the days when George W Bush was the idiot in question - I admire Billie for continuing to be outspoken about his politics regardless of pushback (and the many weird posts from Mike Dirnt's wife).

Like most successful singles from most massively popular albums, I have heard the singles from this album too often, and in too many random shops, to judge them fairly, so I'm going to highlight my favourite non-singles.

She's a Rebel is just stupidly catchy and I loved it from the moment I first heard it. Whatsername is another favourite, as is Letterbomb (mostly because it feels like they partially ripped off 86, a song I really like from Insomniac). It just feels like a very cohesive album, to the extent that while I usually get frustrated with nearly 1 hour long records, this properly whips by. It's considered a classic for a good reason.

This mark was inevitable:

5/5

This was looooooooooong. I ironed all my kid's school uniform, then prepped a Sunday dinner and made a chocolate pear pudding, and it was still going.

I knew I Saw The Light from somewhere but otherwise was going into this blind. It was surprisingly varied, so there was bound to be at least one good track for most people. In my case I really liked Wolfman Jack, The Night The Carousel Burned Down (which felt a bit Harry Nilsson to me) and Little Red Lights. I Went To The Mirror was interesting, though I'm not sure I could entirely say I enjoyed it.

Surprisingly I did enjoy Todd explaining studio screw ups during Intro (the last time I got a lesson on a 1001 Album, it was Ravi Shankar trying to educate me about Sitars and I did not appreciate that one little bit).

The hit rate was pretty low for me, and the ridiculous length means it gets marked down. Would have been a 2.5 with half marks, but I'm rounding down.

2/5

I mean.. frankly... what the fuck?

Not as bad as the Liars album, or Trout Mask Replica, which I still hate with a firey passion but this was shit.

1/5

I really struggled to get into this but I don't know why. I kept getting distracted and listening to new releases that came out the same day instead. I went into this thinking I didn't know anything on the album, but of course I know La Grange.

The album is fine just not really my cup of tea. I was trying to put my finger on why, but other than the slight disconnect that I associate music of this ilk almost entirely with watching Dean, Sam and Castiel defeat demons, I'm not sure. It is a bit too much "meandering jam session" in places so maybe that's it.

Anyway, that means this should get a 2.5, but it's going to get a 2 because I don't have the nostalgia factor to bump it up to 3.

2/5

There was a chunk of time where, every time we saw friends, we played Singstar. The three songs none of us ever successfully duo'd were 500 Miles by The Proclaimers, Stay by Shakespear Sister and California Dreamin'. When you sing along to a track, you tend to sing a combination of both vocal parts and trying to stick to the "boy" vocals or the "girl" vocals, especially when you've had a decent amount of wine, was basically impossible for us. But it wasn't as painful as listening to us butcher Stay.

Anyway, back to the album... The vocals are lovely. I have always liked Monday Monday. I liked the honky-tonk piano on the slightly oddly chosen Beatles cover. The Do You Wanna Dance cover is not as fun as The Beach Boys version or The Ramones version.

I enjoyed this. Probably a 3.5 but not a 4 level enjoyment so:

3/5

Well we had a few days off, but the 70s prog rock is never too far away on this list.

I actually think there's an alternative universe in which I could really like Yes. One where they reel it in a bit and learn brevity. I like Jon Anderson's voice and the bass lines are often really fun.

Once again my Dad's prog rock love resulted in me thinking I didn't know this album at all but then instantly recognising Starship Trooper the moment it started. I actually really like that track. Or at least I would do if it wasn't so blinking long. I also recognised I've Seen All Good People, with it's heartbeat bass line and key change fade out.

I went into this sort of dreading it, but I enjoyed it far more than I expected. It would be more a 2.5 if I had half stars, but the nostalgia kicked in and I'm rounding up

3/5

Considering I only really know The Boo Radleys through Wake Up Boo, this turned out to be altogether weirder than I ever expected.

I really liked the dub baselines whenever they appeared, and the Beach Boys style harmonies, the occasional bit of Beatles influenced instrumentation. This album jumps between styles pretty much every track, which I'm sure people label as "inconsistent and muddled" but is something I really appreciate in a record.

Upon 9th And Fairchild was a highlight for me, sounding quite Clash-like. I also really loved Butterfly McQueen and Thinking Of Ways.

On the negative side, it's too long. I think sometimes bands forget that just because they can, doesn't mean they should - a tight 45/50 minutes is far preferable in my book. I could also have done without the chorus of Best Lose the Fear being repeated what felt like approximately 42 times at the end.

Ultimately though, I really enjoyed this album so

4/5

I spent most of the day after listening to this with So Fresh, So Clean stuck in my head. It's not even the best track on the album, it's just infuriatingly catchy. The best song is of course Ms. Jackson which is one of the absolute best songs of the early 2000s.

Overall, I dislike most of the interludes, which make a very long album longer than it needs to be, and there are some... questionable... lyric choices in places, but when it's good, it's really good.

I actually liked Speakerboxxx/The Love Below better as a whole (or two halves I guess), so this is a

3/5

I just, don't see the attraction in jazz. I'm trying, because the generator is throwing so much jazz at me, but I just don't get it. I can objectively hear that Miles is clearly a talented trumpet player, and I love brass instruments generally, but I just don't find the songs being played interesting at all.

Maybe somewhere in this list, there will be a jazz album that scores more than a 3 from me (my current high score), but if something like Miles Davis doesn't, I'm not holding out much hope. I sort of wish I could hear what other people do, but alas...

2/5

The first track, Dark Star, is 23 minutes long: I entirely see why the Grateful Dead's audience were normally off their tits listening to their gigs as it would presumably be the only way to survive the experience.

I didn't hate all of St. Stephen and Turn On Your Love Light but that's my one vaguely positive comment. Frankly, there was no way they were coming back from that first track though, so while I would have considered a 1.5 if half stars were available, it's a:

1/5

The review is solely based on the original tracklisting, not the expanded version on Amazon Music.

21st Century Schizoid Man (Including "Mirrors") I liked the beginning of, hated the middle of, and was indifferent to the end of. Trimming that down, well chopping it in half, would have made a song I'd enjoy.

I Talk To The Wind I just found long and fairly uninteresting.

Epitaph (including March for No Reason and Tomorrow and Tomorrow) had the vocals so low, both in general and in the mix, at times that I had to turn up the overall volume to try and hear him. I was surprised to read Brett Gurewitz's Epitaph Records label (home of most of my favourite bands from the 90s, and one of my current favourites, Roe Kapara) and was named after this track. It was ok, but too long.

Moonchild (including The Dream and The Illusion) is over 12 minutes long and makes me want to scream with frustration. Not sure if that was what they were going for. IT IS SO LONG AND MEANDERING! Even they don't seem to see the point in it, as they first played it live 48 years after releasing it. I cannot imagine how boring a live experience this song would be.

The Court of the Crimson King was marginally shorter, so at least there's that. There's actually some small parts I like in this track, but not enough to make me enjoy the whole.

There are parts of this album that I didn't hate, but I disliked Moonchild so much, it's sullied the whole LP for me. Once again, I do not understand the attraction in 95% of Prog Rock.

1/5 (it would have got 2 had Moonchild been banished)

I'm not sure why the Generator has decided to provide a rich vein of post-punk albums in the last fortnight, but I can only assume it's decimating my average 1980s score.

Rip It Up is the song I already knew, and it's ok. I didn't mind Turn Away and Breakfast Time had the nice reggae keyboard (which almost instantly got buried in the mix under so much other stuff, including a vibraphone?!). I also liked Hokoyo.

However, to talk about the elephant in the room, the vocals annoyed me so much. The entire album seemed to be a battle between a Bowie impersonation and a Costello impersonation (with hints of Morrissey), and I'm not sure I wanted any option to win.

Another album where replacing the vocalist would have likely gained at least an extra star from me.

2/5

I think Stand Up was a little bit above the rest of the tracks, but overall this is the very definition of background music.

2/5

I have never listened to this album despite loving Goddess on a Hiway, Holes and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp as singles in the 90s.

I kept expecting Endlessly to turn into Silent Night and then the bowed saw appeared - I always enjoy a weird instrument appearing and reading that Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips were sharing a studio and producer during the recording of this makes complete sense.

However the instrumental The Happy End (The Drunk Room) is a strong of example of why I suspect some people hate this album: it could certainly be accused of pretentiousness. But then Goddess on a Hiway is up next and I forgive them everything because it's a perfect 90s alt-rock classic. I really enjoyed The Funny Bird immediately afterwards too.

I enjoyed this a lot. I would say it's a 3.5 for me, and I've really agonised over rounding up or down but the second half felt really strong to me so I think I'm going to go:

4/5

Today's album, as reviewed by my teenager (minus the track full of the n word which I deemed for grown ups only):

"It sounds like hold music"

"It's not awful for some background noise, but they should have hired new lyricists"

"There was absolutely no need for a 14 minute song with no lyrics: absolutely awful"

"This sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks"

I don't disagree. I like the funkiness, and Everyday People is a classic, but all in all:

2/5

More post-punk... but make it slightly country?

My first impression is that Tom Greenhalgh cannot sing. My second impression is that Jon Langford can't sing either. Weirdly they sound a bit better in combination and I have no idea why that should be the case.

I nearly did a little cheer when my adopted hometown got a shout out, but then I zoned out for a little bit. I was very much snapped back to attention when I heard Jacqui Callis say "my sex drew back into itself tight and dry" (which resulted in me googling the lyrics to double check I heard her correctly).

I think parts of this are abysmal, especially the singing, but for some reason it started to grow on me over the length of the full album. I think it might be because they sounded like they were enjoying themselves so much. I would guess that they're great fun to see live. Particularly if you go into the gig absolutely hammered.

I cannot objectively justify this marking at all, so I'm not really going to try:

3/5

I have a very patchy record with post punk albums and this turned out to be no different. It was very much the law of diminishing returns, as I really liked Requiem and Wardance, but the longer the album went on, the more the repetition started to get to me. First it was annoying, but by the end it was just forgettable.

Would be a 2.5, but I'm rounding down

2/5