Reviews by londonhawkredux

Brassy, swingy and a whole heap o' fun.

Smooth.

One of the easiest 5 stars for me to award. I absolutely LOVED Fleet Foxes and this album - played it over and over and over again. Incredible harmonies and beautiful songs - banjos, gentle percussion................. Music is all about opinions - surely if this project teaches us anything, it's that - but if you do not like this album then I WILL JUDGE YOU.
Also, IYKYK, "STEPHEN!"

Definitely part of that nu-wave vanguard but hard to see why you'd include them along with the other 50 albums from that genre. Good, but not "special"

I've learned a lot about hip-hop through this - some of the background, what I like, what I don't.

This I very much do not like.

Suffers a little bit from how good "peak" Prince was I think. It's still good, and all the elements are there - the songmanship, the vocals etc, but that little bit of magic that made some of his work elite tier gold isn't quite there somehow

Feels somewhat dated now - the female singer / songwriter genre has moved on somewhat, but an absolutely phenomenal opening track sets the tone here.

Absolutely grooves along. The opening track Yela is a slow-building sorrowful vibe before it starts to hit its stride through Toro and beyond.

Harmonies are absolutely on point, but this is twee and syrupy as fuck. "Top of the World" is a certified banger, but there's none of that here.

Trying to find reasons to challenge my preconceived notion that this is not going to be a 5.

"There is no pain, you are receding".............................

OK - 5 stars

There's almost a weird cult around George Michael in the UK (and who knows maybe elsewhere). A generation of Wham fan teeny-boppers who then transitioned into near worship of a perceived tortured and unjustly maligned individual. The Venn diagram between George Michael fans and "Princess Diana was killed by the royal family" conspiracy theorists is essentially a circle and this is nothing more than bloated 80s pop/soul. +1 star for Faith being a party choooooooooooooooon that was absolutely rinsed by Vic & Bob : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__MUf2Qv6_U

Influential - of course. Actually any good - underwhelming. Indecisive 3 stars it is then

Was it really only 40 mins long? Felt like a real slog to get through that one.

Another cheeky little surprise. I don't think there have been many genuinely "I've never heard this before but I love it" albums from the list but this would be added to that pile. Kinda punky, kinda riot grrrl, there's some B52s & Beach Boys in there............ Awesomeness

Ah Serge you mad sexy bastard.

And the "I feel like I should have loved them because all the cool kids did, but actually did nothing for me" pile gets 1 CD album higher.

More standard 60s blues. But also inflicted Rod on the world so no. Get in the bin.

Oh, I had Sepultura just a couple of weeks ago. That one (Arise) was OK. I think I'm upsetting some purists here, but Roots is better. Much better. Almost (but not quite) 5 star better.

The industrial noise and beat is there of course, but it's evolved here. The craftmanship is better and more polished. I loved it.

Lovely songs from a lovely lady. My Dad (born in South Wales, lived in SE England his entire life) loved this era of country, and so I guess I do too. Yes, it's kinda twee, but the vocals are absolutely perfect and the songwriting spot on.

Jolene & Islands will forever be the 5-star standout Dolly tracks for me but I could happily listen to this again anytime.

Another one for the "I know the name but have never listened" list. 30mins is about right for the run time. I enjoyed it, but wasn't exactly desperate for it to carry on.