Reviews by magsmusic

This is so 2000's, back when Pharrell was the man...but it did not age well.
The music is still enjoyable. Good beats and rhythms that mixes styles and genres of music, making something different and unique to the changes in pop the rap genre of the 2000's.
However it is height of douche bag, f@ck boy era. This would have been my high school era...how did we not expect more from the lyrics and dudes. Get over yourself and your wanna be six pack for two minutes and not just sing about a girls boobs and ass and spending time in the backseat. Didn't age well boys, not every internal thought should be made into a song.

This was a fun album, but I group I was not familiar with. This was a great version of Punk that was still raw, gritty, but still music and didn't just focus on dissonance. I really enjoyed the song In this House I Call Home.
My only criticism is the female vocalist, she doesn't have a huge musical range which makes her kind of sound flat and not convey the emotions of the music the best. She was pretty good in Some Other Time and Beyond and Back, but if she just let go a little in some of the other songs I think she would have been amazing.

I don't care what others say, this album slaps! Guitar work is great, go Tom Scholz!
Are the songs overplayed and completely stereotypical of rock in this time frame...yes but i ain't mad at it. They are all bangers, just make you want to move and enjoy life.
They are just something about this rock n' roll band trying to get everyone take everyone away by some smokin music! The music gives you more than a feeling, but a peace of mind that makes me want to hitch a ride and let them take me home tonight.
Some might think its cheesy, and they might be right. But rocking out to this album feels gouda!

Of the Costello albums this is my favorite. It doesn't immediately annoy me and he has some beats and the music is varied enough that it doesn't all drag together. No Action and The Beat were good. However, Little Triggers is a big trigger for me, this is the epitome of why I don't think I like him. His voice and signing in this song are just so annoying. His voice is clawing and just grates my brain like nails on a chalkboard.
I also think reading the album summary, maybe I am naive but how is this punk rock? Is it new wave and pop, yes but its not punk. Maybe that is also what annoys me about him, every album is described to be so hard, punk, anti-establishment, but in today's terms its just a pop rock album. Its like he is embarrassed by what he is, but wants to enjoy all the mainstream success of pop music. Like Hand in Hand, would just fit into any high school dance of the 60's.

Started off feeling slightly assaulted (I seriously jumped in my seat slightly). He just starts screaming at me and then the instruments...seriously reminded me of my three kids pretending to be a band, the singer is yelling and the instruments are just everywhere.
One of the reviews said I was supposed to listen to this 7 times to truly appreciate it...I don't think I could do this.
There are fleeting moments, Veteran's Day Poppy guitar, the Bass line on China Pig and maybe Ella Guru and Pachuco Cadaver. But honestly the rest felt like 10 year old boy humor, I just didn't find it funny or enjoyable.

It was fun, simple jazzy rock. Good example of yacht rock and fun to have on for a Sunday afternoon drive. Nothing overwhelmingly good though, and they all start to sound similar. Not in a bad way, just in a similar way.

Fun album! Lots of variety in the music, yet it went together. I was dancing along enjoying myself.

Her voice is pretty, she has an interesting way of including American pop culture into somewhat deep lyrics. But as an album its just too much. Too much breathiness, to much melancholy, too much slow guitar, too much complaining about nothingness, just to much of everything. Also when you really listen to the lyrics they are not that deep or earth shattering. She just sings them with such a pretty sad emotional voice everyone thinks she is talking about such deep things. Breaking up Slowly was my favorite song, because of Nikki Lane, not Lana.
I don't know if this all a defense mechanism, saying I like all the bad and then bragging about all the great things you have going on. For me its just whiny in an entitled way, not really deep or emotional. Just I have money, I like when my boyfriend drinks so I can do what I want, and I wander because I want to. You can get slightly sucked in but if you listen its just blah

I really liked this one and from a band I have never heard of. I got a lot of Black Keys vibes (who I also like). Zuton Fever had me questioning if it was a Black Keys song, but it wasn't but still good. I also like You Will You Won't, Confusion, and Nightmare Part II. Railroad was a different vibe but still fun. It had older rock vibes with enough newer alt rock indie fun to make it enjoyable and fresher. There were also a lot of extra instruments worked in to make the sound rock but with a little difference.

Based on the album cover I had no idea what I was getting into...
I don't hate it, overall parts are actually really interesting and enjoyable. My criticisms are that its kind of all over the place and I am not always seeing everything connecting with the songs being really long. It kind of feels like each song is its own kind of mini album or piece, that don't necessarily all go together but on their own they are mostly nice. Moonchild just kept going and I am not really sure why

This one was just fun and enjoyable. It didn't take its self too seriously. They leaned into the 80s musical rock opera feeling and did it well and fun. Its over the top, but not so much that it was cheesy.

This was much more conceptual than I typically enjoy. I liked the songs that were more traditional song style (Video Girl, Two Weeks, Pendulum). I liked her voice, but wish she showed a little more range besides just super high and breathy.
There was variety but then again not, I think for me that would be the biggest complaint, it just all blended together and was all just more of the same kind of techy breathy wispyness. Don't hate it but probably won't go back to it.

This album oozes so much fog, big hair, oversized clothes and over the top cheesyness.
I don't hate it, its just sooooo much 80's, like to the point of being completely over the top. There are some interesting parts and if you want a soundtrack for your 80's theme night look no further, but I don't think I want to listen to the whole thing again.

I don't know what this was exactly. It was Looney Tunes, meets Primus, meets Halloween, meets strangeness. I kept laughing asking myself is this for real.

Based on the font used on the album cover I thought this was going to be something a little more hard and brutal.
Instead it was a mix of lounge pop that is super critical of everything. This is Hell, Sulky Girl, You Tripped, All the Rage...just weird annoying critical angry sadness and at the same time reminding us he is smarter than us. Then his voice just adds to the mehness, like he can't even really singing or rock.
20% Amnesia had some hope of being better, but them just repeating 20% amnesia over and over was just so obvious. At least the song sort of lived up to the cover font!
His lyrics are kind of interesting if you read them, but the rest is just so meh and lack luster, why exactly is Elvis Costello so loved? I notice his album summary is one of the few to mention he was included in this list, just trying to remind us all of his amazingness...if you remind people enough maybe they will believe you. I found myself checking the track list over and over to see how much was left, that is not a good sign.

I feel like I got a contact high just listening to this album. I just did not get into this album. It was disjointed and confusing. One minute we were in a James Bond movie (Lucifer Sam). Then I was traveling across a mythical medieval land (Matilda Mother) followed by being chased by howling monkeys (Power R. Roc. H). Then we traveled to Outer space (Interstellar Overdrive) followed by standing in a field either being a scarecrow or watching a scarecrow (I feel like it was a metaphor but because of the LSD trip, it might have just been about the scarecrow).
There were bits I liked, Interstellar Overdrive had a good bass line, and Stethoscope was a good 70s rock song. But the overall disjointedness of it was somewhat jarring and not one I would put in the rotation.

Reading their Spotify page they seem like a huge success in Britain. But to me this album feels like a lot of the 1990's alt/pop/rock that we heard. Would I dance along and enjoy listening to them play it as a set at the I Love the 90's tour, sure, but it would just mesh into all of the other bands during the day.
How High was probably my favorite, they really seemed to have all of the pieces to rock out and make a hit out of it. I also liked Get On It (I am a sucker for a harmonica) but it felt like it was on the wrong album (maybe Bob Dylan's). The rest started to just mesh together with his whiny vocals. I read some of the lyrics to see if that was where they made their mark, but those were just okay. They look like they were probably semi-cute bad boys, so people feel in lust with them and by proxy the album. Its a 3, I wouldn't seek them out but I wouldn't change the radio station if one of the songs came on.

I have gone from hating Taylor to not really caring about her and to somewhat liking her. I watched her concert and I will be honest I didn’t know how poetic her songs were. So this was a nice experience to sit and listen to an entire album.
There is so much to dive into with Taylor. First her voice is beautiful, and it goes along with the subtle melodies and chords she has created. Song after song is calm, beautiful and subtle emotions of someone looking back. Criticism is that all of the songs are similar in terms of melody and tone, nothing makes me want to stand up and dance and nothing makes me want to cry. Its something I would have listened to in my late 20’s while cleaning the house.
The actual lyrics are poem after poem. Some have hooks and choruses, but most are just long poetic stories. She uses her words to craft depth, beauty and emotion into simple interactions. That might be part of the draw, all of these young middle/upper class individuals that feel their simple everyday lives are not noteworthy, connect with her because even in simple live there are deep noteworthy feelings we have.
In that she has the ability to pull out the simple toxicity in simple life (Tolerate It) and maybe that is why so many men hate her. She doesn’t allow light to everyday toxicity in relationships, she pulls at each moment shines a light on their behavior. In contrast, one thing she lacks is any accountability in her songs, mostly it is always about the others making her feel worthless, and they may have mostly sucked.
Happiness was one of the few where I really heard her reflect and discuss her side of things and that there was some accountability, and maybe that is because she took a lot of time to reflect. It was also really beautiful because so many of us have those feelings about some past relationships.
Its pretty, simple and complex. She has a talent for writing and connecting, and this album is a good example.

I don’t usually listen to an album twice, but today I did.
First time through it was just a little too raw, quiet and dark. I missed some of the lyrics which caused me to focus too much on the raw sounds and not connect them to the emotions and lyrics. The lyrics I did catch were often repeated over and over, causing a little more annoyance than enjoyment. It was also first thing Monday morning and I was trying to start off in a really positive state of mind so this was a bit jarring overall.
Second time through I listened along with reading the lyrics. Then I was able to connect the rawness and lyrics together, to have a much deeper experience into the album. There were still songs I really didn’t enjoy (Legs, Man-Size Sextet) and I noticed even more how much she repeats lyrics over and over (especially at the end of the songs). But I could hear the anger, sadness, rage, anxiety and the little bit of ‘crazy’ female we have in us especially after dealing with less than outstanding members of the opposite sex.
I added a few songs to my favs and will deep into PJ Harvey more. It will be interesting to see if she is always this raw.

This group is talented, taking so many aspects of rap, hip hop and sampling to make a great sound that is iconic to the 90s. Really puts on display racism and America, where it was at in the 90's and mostly where it is today.