Reviews by lukazimir_

4/5. It’s kind crazy how smoking weed with Bob Dylan irreversibly changed the course of the Beatles career. All jokes aside, Rubber Soul was a major turning point for the band. It marks the transition point where the Beatles shifted from the Boy-band they were on their first five albums to the album focused studio wizards they would be from this point forward.
And there’s a lot of great cuts on this one like “Norwegian Wood” which sees John Lennon trying to write a Dylan-esque song (something Dylan himself would respond to with the song “4th Time Around which shares an extremely similar vocal melody and progression.) or “Girl” which has this great section halfway through with chugging background vocals, or even “Michelle” which sees Paul getting a bit French with it which is cheesy in the best possible way. And of course there is “In My Life” which is one of the Beatles best songs.
My only real complaints with rubber soul actually lie with the two songs that bookend the album “Drive my car” at the start and “run for your life” at the end, neither of which I personally care for particularly much.

3/5. So was the album that finally broke Peter Gabriel into the mainstream as a solo artist as it more openly embraced the pop sounds of its time. Despite being a poppier album there is still a sense of adventure underneath though which is probably the albums biggest strength and what makes it at the very least more enjoyable than a lot of other 80’s pop albums. But this is still a case where I liked it but didn’t love it, as there is still enough of that 80’s production that I personally tend to really dislike to where it gets in the way of a few of the songs. Also I was excited to see a song featuring Kate Bush, but it was sadly one of the weaker tracks here.

2/5. Only two things keeping me from lowering this to a 1 is that I quite liked a lot of the bass lines on the album and the synths aren’t as awfully produced as they are on a lot of other 80’s pop albums. Beyond that though I got nothing out of this one. I really just don’t like this style of vocals, they’re just so cheesy and not in the fun way. And outside of the basslines the instrumental arrangements on here are in one ear and out the other, nothing offensively bad, but also nothing of particular interest.

4/5. That Leonard Cohen guy really knows how to tell a story, huh. This album sees Cohen going much darker and moodier than his first few albums. The guitar playing is simple, as is the singing. and that’s intentional as the main focus is the words, the stories being told, which tracks considering Cohens background as a poet. For me, the best song here is “famous blue raincoat”, a song that’s formatted like a letter and seems to detail a relationship that’s crumbling due to an affair while also painting imagery of Cain and Abel. Essential folk record In my opinion.

3.5/5. Johnny Cash’s San Quentin performance is often overshadowed by its older sibling live-album “At Folsom Prison” and if you ask me, that’s because Folsom is the much better option of the two. That being said, the San Quentin performance is still a good record with a handful of great songs, whether that be “a boy named sue” or “Starkville city jail.” I also love how Cash opts to play the song San Quentin twice in a row, and how when he thanks the staff of the prison basically the entire audience boos.

3/5. Credited with starting the American Bossa Nova craze of the ‘60s, this album is what it says on the tin, Jazz Samba. Getz’s sax playing is very solid on here and his soloes glide by smoothly. And so does the guitar playing. Though when it comes to Getz’s work, I vastly prefer 1964’s Getz/Gilberto over this one.

3.5/5. Not my personal favorite Eno record but there’s still quite a few great cuts on here. It’s actually an example of an album that I would say is back-loaded in that most of the songs I really love are in the second half such as the beautiful sounding “Julie With…” or “by this river.” I mostly preferred the slower, more spacey and ambient cuts on this one. The more art-rocky cuts mostly came off as slightly weaker than those found on Brian Eno’s “Another Green World.” Still worth the full listen though IMO.

4/5. A similarity that Radiohead shares with artists like the Beatles or Bob Dylan is that there is something of a mythos around their story as a band. And in the Radiohead narrative, Kid-A is often depicted as a sharp, revolutionary left-turn away from their alternative rock roots, veering instead into more electronic influenced music. I would disagree that it’s a revolution, but what this album is is very good. It honestly always sells me just on those opening chords of the intro track “everything in its right place.”

Though it takes in more electronics, Kid-A still has some rockers on it too, like my “the national anthem” which starts with a great bass-groove before descending into a chaotic storm of horns. Then right after that is the comedown of “how to disappear completely” which is another one of the bands all-timer songs. My favorite however is “Idioteque” which has a very jittery electronic groove mixed with a great vocal performance from Thom Yorke.

All around a great album that deserves its status. Only thing keeping it from being a 5 for me is that I personally prefer several other Radiohead albums (I’d probably put In Rainbows, OK computer, Amnesiac and A Moon Shaped Pool above Kid A in my personal Radiohead ranking.)

3/5. Fine enough industrial metal album. Though there’s many from this era that I much prefer. It’s at its best on the harder hitting tracks like “Jesus Built my Hotrod.” Lyrically there seems to be themes about religion and politics but it never really goes into enough depth to where it feels particularly interesting or insightful. But there’s still some good riffs and individual songs on here so it wasn’t a bad time all around.

5/5. Tago Mago by the influential Krautrock band Can is probably one of the least accessible albums on this generator and its reception is likely quite divisive on here if I had to guess. But I love this album. For the sake of this review, the seven tracks here can easily be split into two halves.

The first half (which encompasses the first four tracks) is very groove-based and jammy, where the drums really feel like the main character of the music. Especially on the 18 minute highlight of the album “Halleluwah” which has this locked in groove that slowly builds in intensity in its first 6 or so minutes before dropping out and then building up again.

It’s the second half of the album however (the final three tracks) where I imagine this album really loses a lot of people. As the music from this point on kinda just abandons structure entirely. It begins to feel like the musical equivalent of a bad acid trip. Whether that be the noisy drone of “Aumgn” or the atonal keyboards of “Peking O.” And these are for sure not songs that I’ll put on at public events or that I listen to in isolation from the album regularly, but they are still fascinating and sonically engrossing experiments from a band that was pushing the limits of what rock at the time could sound like.

One of those albums where I can completely understand how someone would despise it, but I personally find myself completely on-board with its uncompromising vision every time I listen to it.

4/5. One of the best indie debuts of the 2000’s for sure, though if I were to do a fleet foxes ranking it would still end up second to last (which is a testament to how good these guys are in my estimation. I consider Helplessness blues and crack-up to both be 5/5’s.) I think what really sells this album is the chamber-folk elements, it feels like it is being played to you in a very acoustic, echoey room which you can feel especially on more intimate tracks like “tiger mountain peasant song.” Another important factor is vocalist Robin Pecknold whose harmonies really bring the whole album together. As I said at the start of the review, great debut by one of the best to do it in modern indie-folk.

4/5. Originally just a series of singles from the late 40’s and early 50’s, they would be compiled into this album in 1957, ushering in the era of cool jazz and shining a spotlight on Miles Davis as a major figure/bandleader in the genre. Due to the time it was recorded, the production is a bit dated, but the playing here is still strong. The rhythm section keeps everything moving nicely with some driving baselines and drum work, and the lower-register horn section does some solid solo-work. The biggest thing holding Birth of the Cool back is honestly just seeing it in retrospect and knowing that Miles Davis would go on to do many even better albums (I’m personally partial to his fusion era.)

2/5. I’m usually a post-punk enjoyer but this one just didn’t do anything for me. Not helping is the sound of the album which is some dated 80’s cheese, but even beyond that, nothing really captivated me here. It’s not abysmal or anything, but just not for me.

4/5. This is probably the most overlooked of the three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums. Which is no fault of its own, it’s sandwiched in-between “are you experienced” and “electric ladyland” which are two monumental albums. But this one is still extremely good as well. Some of the best psych rock you could ask for in the ‘60s.

4/5. My first brush with the Funkadelic/Parliament funk empire on the generator, and what a good one to start with. Sadly it’s not currently up on streaming (due to a record label dispute from what I understand) but there was a decent rip of it on YouTube. It starts very strong with the title track which has a fantastic bass-line along with some strong vocal delivery. And the album continues on that same pace with several great long funk-rock jams, including a really great live rendition of the Maggot Brain guitar solo near the end.

3/5. The title track of this album “Green Onions” is one of those songs where even if you don’t think you know it, you’ve definitely heard it somewhere. Whether it be in a TV show, a movie or in the background at a store. For me it always takes me to that scene in Twin Peaks the Return of the dude sweeping the floor of the roadhouse. and that song is everywhere because it is a genuinely great slice of instrumental blues, especially with that organ line.

However, like many albums of the 50’s and early 60’s before our modern idea of the “album” fully formed, the single was originally a standalone track. and its success meant the label told the band “go build an album around this single.” The rest of the album is by no means bad, it’s often pretty solid as it follows in the footsteps of Green Onions with instrumental blues/soul/rock songs/covers featuring some killer organ work. But none of the other songs can really compare to the title track either.

3/5. First album I’ve had on the generator which isn’t on streaming. Luckily there was a decent rip of the album on YouTube so I listened there. And it’s a decent time. Feels like a blend of folk-rock and Springsteen-esque heartland rock. Its strongest songs though are at the start and end of the album, leaving a pretty flabby and forgettable middle section. My favorite song is probably “Jenny” which is a very skeletal tracks only featuring vocals and guitar.

4/5. I’ve always been a bit of an outsider to Frank Ocean. I knew he was one of the most respected/acclaimed modern soul/R&B artists and I knew that it’s been forever since his last album (Blonde will be 10 years old later this year), but I’ve never actually fully dove into an album of his until now. And I get the hype, this album was really good. Some fantastic production here which goes well with Franks vocals which are also great. The highlight for me has to be the nearly 10 minute centerpiece of the album “Pyramids.” This is definitely one I see myself returning to.

5/5. Wish you were here sees Pink Floyd at their most emotionally potent, which is brought on by the two main subjects of the album. The first is the bands disillusionment and frustration with the music industry which is seen on the two middle tracks “Welcome to the Machine” and “Have a cigar.” And in those respective songs you can really feel that sense of frustration. I also really love the explosions of synth on the former.

The second subject, which is where most of the emotional weight comes in is the bands reflections and odes to former band frontman Syd Barrett. “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”, split into two halves to open and close the album is probably Pink Floyd’s best song in my opinion. That moment when the instrumental finally kicks in around that central guitar lick is maybe one of my favorite musical moments in general. If Shine On is my favorite Floyd song, then the penultimate track “Wish you were here” is not far behind either, it’s one of the bands simpler songs structurally, but it just absolutely hits emotionally. All in all, probably my favorite Pink Floyd album (though animas is a close second.)

3/5. A nice slice of jangle-pop and college rock. Was an easygoing and pleasant listen, I personally preferred the tracks that leaned a little more post-punky like the opener “radio free Europe” but it was all solid, just not the most interesting or exciting album for me personally.