Reviews by mattrickpow

Overall: 4/10

Despite a few catchy songs, I just found this to be way too corny for my tastes. Justin has nice voice and the production is good, but it's very 2000's.

Fav Song: Rock Your Body

Overall: 10/10

Seriously one of the best albums ever made. On par with Talking Heads '77 and Speaking in Tongues in terms of fun, danceable rock songs. Once again, Tina Weymouth is the best thing about these guys. Inject the bassline to Found a Job in my veins and leave me under a bridge.

Fav Song: Found a Job

Overall: 8/10

This was a strange little album! It felt Beatles-esque at times. It's also a rock opera, I didn't have time to look up It's story or anything but it seemed interesting enough.

Fav Song: Trust

Overall: 5/10

Bonnie Raitt has a fine voice, but I find most of the songs to be pretty mediocre. Too Soon to Tell is really beautiful though, it might actually be my single favourite country song I've heard from this experience.

Fav Song: Too Soon to Tell

Overall: 7/10

This was funky and fun! I liked the instrumental tracks but the ones with his voice were really great.

Fav Song: Inspiration Information

Overall: 8/10

Oh my god, that voice.....like hot butter and maple syrup over the fluffiest pancakes you've ever had. I think I'm in love.

The best songs on this are absolute masterpieces of soul music. I certainly didn't love everything here but man, it was all so catchy and beautiful. I can see this growing on me as I get older.

Fav Song: Let's Stay Together

Overall: 8/10

You can hear so many bands that these guys must have influenced in every single note of this album. They're mostly punk, but they seem unafraid of experimenting with different sounds as well. I hear lots of Against Me! and At the Drive-In with their sound. I may need some more time with this one, but I think it's awesome.

Fav Song: Die in the Summertime

Overall: 8/10

This is just a really great rock album with a little bit of folk sprinkled in to keep it interesting. The harmonies are probably my favourite part of this album, I feel all the voices individually aren't amazing but they work so well together. Also, looking at that album cover, it makes sense that Bob Dylan is known for his music and not his art.

Fav Song: Chest Fever

Overall: 8/10

This is such a relaxing album. It helped me chill out on a very stressful morning and I love it for that. It doesn't quite reach the heights of Disintegration but it gets pretty close. I could see myself napping to this (that's a huge compliment).

Fav Song: The Hanging Garden

Overall: 8/10

This is the closest an album has ever gotten to making me feel the way that Daft Punk's best work makes me feel, and that's a huge compliment coming from me. It didn't all work, but there were a lot of bangers on here.

Fav Song: Stress

Overall: 8/10

I love Elton John, man. So much, in fact, that he is one of the few artists that I've shared my love of with my 4 year old son. He loves Elton even more than I do. This album especially has been one that we listen to a lot together. I think Elton and Bernie Taupin is one of the best collaborations we've ever gotten in music, their music and lyrics just work so well together. Obviously Indian Sunset hasn't aged well at all, and is the biggest reason this isn't getting a perfect rating, but everything else is just so much fun for me.

Fav Song: Tiny Dancer

Overall: 7/10

I really like her flow and the accent adds an unintentional atmosphere that makes this really interesting for me. I'm not sure if it's something I'll listen to a lot but my curiosity is piqued.

Fav Song: 101 FM

Overall: 6/10

Back in high school, I watched an interview with some comedian I didn't know (for some reason) and he was wearing a shirt with some dudes in suits with eyeballs for heads. This comedian pointed out that it was a shirt for a band called The Residents, and I liked the shirt so much that I got my own. I then proceeded to tell everyone I knew that I was a huge fan of the band even though I had never even heard a single song. Then I got into Primus and was surprised to find out that they were huge fans of The Residents, and I ended up getting into Constantinople and Hello Skinny as a result.

I graduated high school 9 years ago (gross) and I still hadn't heard any Residents songs besides those 2 until today. My initial reaction? Strange but catchy. You hear horror stories about how inaccessible this band is, and I can totally see why people would feel that way. The weird voices and lack of melodies is certainly enough to turn people off, but I find it so interesting that I can't stop listening. The style does get old after a while, but I think it's entertaining and I'd rather listen to this than yet another bland british pop album.

Fav Song: Hello Skinny

Overall: 8/10

What I love about this album is that they add in these strange sounds in sections of songs that end up being the ear worm that you can't stop thinking about. It adds a lot of texture to the album that would have been missing otherwise.

On the other hand, lots of this sounds like circus music to me. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, it's very strange and different but also pretty catchy? I listen to Mr. Bungle so I don't know why it should be an issue.

Fav Song: Recoil

Overall: 4/10

I didn't really do any research before starting this one so I expected a pretty straightforward jazzy type of album. Imagine my surprise when it ended up being the score of a film noir film that doesn't even exist. Once I had that idea implanted in my brain, it made the album a bit more digestible, but I still don't think it's anything to go crazy over. Maybe I'd like it more if the film was real, but it isn't, so I'm stuck with no visuals to interpret this.

Fav Song: The Swinging Detective

Overall: 7/10

This is the most 90s thing I've ever heard in my life. Genuinely can't imagine it being made at any other point in time. It's kind of dumb but I also really enjoyed my time with it. I'm not even sure how to describe how I feel about it. The vocals fit with the beats so good and it tickles my brain in a way I've never experienced.

Fav Song: Fade Away

Overall: 10/10

I was surprised by how much I like this. I already knew I liked Unknown Pleasures so I knew I'd be down with this too, but I didn't expect to like it more than that one. Honestly, its the bass. The bass lines on this album are all timers. I have a 4 year old who wants to learn how to play bass and I might start by getting him to learn this album.

Fav Song: Atrocity Exhibition

Overall: 3/10

This felt like 2 reallt bland and boring songs. There were moments that I started enjoying it but they never lasted very long.

Fav Song: Mona

Overall: 7/10

Relaxing and ethereal. It almost sounds ahead of it's time in a way. I can see how so many artists of the 2010s would vibe with this and be influenced by it.

Fav Song: Words

Overall: 4/10

I appreciate Astrud's voice on The Girl from Ipanema, but this album is very lackluster to me. Very boring and uninteresting.

Fav Song: Beach Samba