Reviews by magsmusic

It was a nice album. Now that I am older I can listen to the lyrics and appreciate this music on a deeper level. I like the beat, bop and harmony of voices.

This was just fun and interesting. I loved bopping along with it and enjoying some great 50's music.

I enjoyed each song individually (I like folk, indie, alt rock) but as an album less of a fan. Each song was well done, deep and introspective. I also really connect with the themes of aging, change, being retrospective, and how that can manifest into anxieties, depression and sorrowful feelings. I am at 40 now and feel a lot of that emotion and ideas.
But for me personally I need something with a little more energy in the music to bring me up followed by the current songs to bring me back down. Yes all the feelings he has are real, but there can be beauty in anxiety, depression and sorrow. I am sad because something was good or I can find beauty in today's world even in small parts like a sunset. As an album it left me wanting that piece.

This was a beautiful album. Everything about it is unique and different, but that works for her. It is a mix of everything all at once but she does it in a uniquely beautiful way. I love that she doesn't feel she needs to fit into a box or a genre but just does her music the way she feels and in the way that expresses what she wants to share.

Beyond the hits this one had some songs I really enjoyed, like The Man's Too Strong and some I didn't like Ride Across the River and Your Latest Trick. After a while the autotune of the voice kind of bothered me. I just wanted to hear his voice along with the more raw guitar in songs like One World. It wasn't a great voice (learned from Brother in Arms) but sometimes natural is just better because otherwise it is just the same thing over and over. I could go back and forth on this album between a 2 and a 3 depending on my mood that day.

The intros for the first two songs had me so excited, but the lyrics were so blah. It was repetitive over and over and he didn't have any passion in his lyrics. Then We Will Fall was just weird...it was trying to be cultish (but not enough passion), trying to be druggy (but not trippy enough), trying to be sleepy (but just kept going). There were redeeming moments (guitar and drums on first two songs) but really it was just blah.

Not my jam, not my genre
But at least the screaming seems almost like signing, not just screaming. The guitar and drums are not always just loud noise, but actual music (that is pretty good at time). They are actually signing about something and not just whining about how horrible life is. These guys are making legit satanic music and are proud of it. They also might be angry and are at least doing it in a way that is musical. Not my thing...but at least it has elements of music in it.

I enjoyed this album. I like the title track and Animal Farm. Started off pretty "normal" and got trippier by the end.

For some reason this didn't sound all that different to me then their normal music except it wasn't as much drums. But after researching some turns out Kurt wasn't full acoustic and refused to play without his amp and effect boxes. The other thing I learned is they didn't want to play their hits...however most of the songs became hits after. So in retrospect this album isn't as shocking and groundbreaking as it probably was at the time. With that said its a good album. Grunge bands are interesting for live albums because they aren't usually super interactive with the crowd and don't use a ton of effects so it ends up being a lot like a regular album in terms of sound.
Favorite songs with Lake of Fire (go Meat Puppets) and Where did you Sleep last nigh (learned that Kurt refused to do an encore because he did not think he could top this song).

Never heard of this band or any of their songs. This album really grew on me and it almost felt like two different bands from the beginning of the album to the end. I really liked Weather with you, Italian Plastic and There Goes God. Harmonicas draw me in and I just can't help but like them.

Beautiful voice, beautiful lyrics, and beautiful music....but way way way too much...
Halfway through the second disc, I just zoned it all out and it became department store background noise. Certain songs would bring me back slightly (They All Laughed, I Got Rhythm) because of Fitzgerald's voice, not the composers. But it just all started to blend together and turn it into an experience I just wanted to end.
This is made for someone that either eats and breathes Fitzgerald or Gershwin, for me as a casual listener it made me actually like it less the longer it went, which is a travesty since her voice is so amazing!
I honestly don't know if I like any band or composer that I would want to listen to 6 albums of their music in a row without some variety mixed in. And maybe that is part of the problem, Gershwin doesn't write enough variety in their music, it all starts to sound the same over and over.

This show is something that would be next to impossible to do today and that is part of what makes it special but more how much Johnny connects with the prisoners and treats them like humans. His interactions with this specific crowd make this such a unique event. His lyrics speak to the need for prison and police reform in a way that was appropriate for his background, and can be applied to any background.

I just can't get into this music...I tried really hard to be open minded to their anger, lyrics and music (each part individual) to try to understand but I just don't. In Psychosocial and Dead Memories they don't yell all the time, and honestly those part aren't terrible. If they did more of that maybe I could give it a 2, but the screaming is just overwhelming. But as is I would never choose to listen to them again.

So ironically 80's. At the time I remember family members really grooving to Def Leppard and I likely grooved along too. I still love Photograph, but the rest don't really hit the same today as they did then. Not anything wrong with it, but now that we are out of the 80s the dramatic riffs and action movie oriented lyrics don't elicit the feelings they used to.

Anytime I hear Rush I think of the character from the Goldbergs that was obsessed with them, his love and obsession for the band make me laugh. His obsession and the general love around the band confuse me slightly. I mean don't get me wrong its not bad...but its not life changing. I read one review of the band and it said they are known for their wide vocabulary and are credited with teaching people new words. Bravo on that I suppose...the 20+ minute song was good, but also could have been broken down into multiple songs and likely done the same thing. I don't know maybe Johnny Atkins just set the bar for this band too high for me to truly appreciate their greatness. For now its a 3....

Bear with me....at first I was super confused...then it reminded me of "Money Makes the World Go Round" from Caberat (which made me think of Schitt's Creek) and then the album started to make more sense if I listened to it as a soundtrack for a musical. All those weird Lousiana/Bayou characters (except Hang Down your Head, that is a New Yorker) signing and narrating all of these crazy bad evil things happening around them. I am not sure if I would listen to it again, but it helped me contextual the music and be able to get past the initial weirdness to appreciate it.

Never heard of them so no idea what to expect. Better then I thought, good lyrics, good beats.

I am about 99.9% sure I owned this cassette tape when I was very young, so listening it now was such an awesome experience. I was able to connect and sing along because I remembered it all, but old enough now to process what she was talking about. Janet Jackson does not get enough credit for her contribution to the musical world. Great album and so many amazing one off songs. She really weaved it all together into a wonderful album.

She has a beautiful soulful voice that brings beauty to pain. My biggest issue is that it all starts to sound the same, meshing one song into the next and never really separating into their each distinct song. Sometimes I also found myself drifting out and thinking of it as background music in a department store. I liked it, but for me it was not earth shaking, but at the time I could see it being a departure from a lot of other pop music that was coming out.

Going between a 3 and a 4, but ultimately a 3. I really thought he was British, gave me those vibes. It was short and I think that was good for me. I enjoyed it but it got a bit repetitive in each song, but then each stood pretty good on its own.