Reviews by magsmusic

In a way this was all over the place for me, but not in a bad way. Immediately I thought of Irish trad, but then it was American folk rock and back to trad. There were moments when it was obviously 70's but old school traditional songs and even moments of music that felt very 2020. I loved Cajun Women, I think they really excelled at the faster fun songs. I think some of the slower songs were also good, but my attitude today was less connected to the slower songs (I think I could be on other days). I really enjoyed all of this music.

Its 90's emo created by an electronic band. It seems very appropriate for the movie and would elicit deeper emotion from the storyline.
Also knowing the movie's storyline it feels like this idealized version from a man's perspective of these girls' lives and experiences. Its like look at these beautiful women and how sad we never got to actually date and hook up with them. They were so perfect (except the one, no judgement Kristin!) its so sad they died and none of us were able to sleep with them (more). Did it convey that message and idea, sure probably pretty well. But also we have heard that perspective a lot. Also it was just kind of the same sounds over and over, aethereal, sad, perfect, melancholy. I would guess these girls were pissed at times, angry, and loud (Maybe this could be Dirty Trip, but then it just kept going). They were also happy at some point, enjoying the world around them, small enough moments that they knew they were missing things. As an album without the movie, it is a little too much sadness for me. In the end it was almost all just emo, so meh...

I go back and forth on loving and disliking this album. At times its raw, emotional and beautiful in a rock n' roll way. But then it is just too much being a jerk and full of his emotional toils but not deciding to focus on change. There are some solid garage style rock points.

Its music you would hear in the background of Sephora, Zara or H&M. Its not bad, it just background music to me. There are some cool beats and they do mix coherently well. Its just nothing special to me. Its very spacy and somewhat aethereal but also all very similar.

There were some good ones that were deep and emotional. I also enjoyed the music. Where it falls out of a 4 for me is Bowie's voice, a lot of it didn't elicit the emotions in the music. I know he can do it so it was surprising that he wasn't more emotionally invested in a lot of the lyrics.

This was good dance music with a fusion of African and South American sounds. I think this is something I am somewhat used to now so it feels less groundbreaking.

This sounded like a college garage band that couldn't find a lead singer they thought was pretty enough to shag. They played in their apartment garage with the door open thinking people would flock to them but they just kept walking by. Nobody called the police on them because it wasn't that awful, but they also never got out of the garage.

There were parts of this that I really loved and enjoyed and felt genuine. But every once in a while it felt forced and almost making fun of the genre of folk and country. I think it was in the lyrics, at times the way she sang felt forced or slightly emotionless and generic. But then it would go back to the deep solemness that felt real and heartfelt.

Sometimes I felt like thy were being experimental and artsy and other times it came across as a high school garage band that didn't know what they were doing. The first three minutes of Lark's Tongue was trying to be artsy but Part II was just a bunch of guys that thought they could play trying to jam out together.
Its not awful, but I don't get this one being included, because its just random songs, with little emotion being created by them.

So a lot of time I say the singer doesn't have enough emotion but I think PJ Harvey has the opposite. Sometimes her voice is so emotional that it makes me think, its not that serious....
Her voice is also not my favorite, its not great, but not in a Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell bad good way.
It is better than the last album by her, the music is at least palatable, but just not complete for me.

I don't understand why this needed to be a double album, nothing here seemed so amazing that they needed to do a double. Wouldn't it have been better to release it as two. I don't hate any part of it, but it was just sooooooo much Dexys and I found myself lost and a little over the horns and the singers voice, especially after Keep It, Pt. 2. I think I would have gone much higher if it just didn't feel like they were just doing too much.

I am a fan of this one (except the mysiogny, why does that always have to be a musical theme!).
There are a lot of issues discussed, its not too fast but also not too slow. He has emotion to his voice and his rhythms are obvious at times but not at others.

It was pop, rock, alt and probably similar to other at the time, but I couldn't help but enjoy the first half of this album. It all worked in a weird fun way. The Passenger was one of my favorite. But then we had to go down into wanting young girls and then Turn Blue. Apparently Turn Blue is about heroin and depression but some of the symbolism just ain't right.

I loved this album, it was very beautiful and soulful. For the Bowie albums we have listed to its the one that made the most sense and flowed the best. Is it a little more commercial? Yes, but it also made sense.

This project has taught me I like Blues
This was a good one and I appreciate how well he created a good, soulful album. He has emotion and quality guitar work.

This is one of those albums that is potentially harder to rate because I was not there when it was released. Its a fun album, it is full of good songs that are self-assured, strong and bring out emotions. They are fun songs that rock and add to the music of the era.
In retrospect the band is plagued by their weird sibling rivalry that destroyed their band. Overall it is enjoyable and I would go back to it, but with other bands coming up, this one kind of becomes one of many bands of that time. Its still a banger, but in retrospect maybe not as much of a banger as it was at the time.

I really wanted to like this! I really want to like jazz.
But it just ends up being random noise that keeps going and doesn't seem connected. I just get lost in the music, but not in a good way. So for me this was just long and random and I didn't really connect.

I had this album in high school, and the same holds today as I felt then. I love the first half of the album, it flows, it moves and makes me feel emotions and the experiences in the music. The sounds are so big that you feel like you are floating in some beautiful world while dancing alone but in a beautiful group of people at the same time.
But the second half just drags. It is not just the rhythms but the lyrics too. The Sky is Broken is just so bad and so long. In the second half some sounds still feel big and beautiful, but then just completely empty but not in a good way. I get the same feeling in My Weakness, it wants to be deep and meaningful but it kind of ends up no where. Its like he thought he was creating something impactful but it just felt unfinished.
First half solid high marks and second half not great....so I will end up in the middle.

This one is hard to separate how amazing the person is from the music, in a good way. So I listened again really trying to just appreciate the music. I have never listened to a full Dolly album so it was a good treat.
Her voice may not be top 10 ever, but it pretty and she engages emotion in it just right so you feel it but not too cheesy. She hits on certain elements of her life and culture in a way that is not too over the top and degrading to other. Her stories are hers and she makes them unique and different, its folksy, blue grass, country, spiritual, 70's, even a little jazzy. Just simple and beautiful.

I always feel like Soundgarden sounds similar, but there was some good variety in this album. It is still very obviously Chris Cornell. It is also a little depressing, but good.