Reviews by mattrickpow

Overall: 6/10

Very funky, but I just don't like the idea of film scores being in the list. I gave a pass to Superfly mostly because I love Curtis Mayfield's voice and a majority of the songs featured his vocals, but how much is Isaac Hayes actually singing on this one? That's not to say entirely instrumental albums are bad, but I'd prefer if they weren't the soundtrack to a movie. The music itself is fine.

Fav Song: Theme from Shaft

Overall: 7/10

Some may say this is boring, but I found it really interesting and relaxing. Not every song needs to get my blood pumping and sometimes you just want a beautiful voice singing chill tunes to you while you lay down. This was the perfect day for me to get an album like this. I don't think I'd want to listen to it all the time but I'll definitely be coming back to it occasionally.

Fav Song: Goodbye Sunday

Overall: 9/10

I don't have anything new to add to the conversation when it comes to Thriller. It's a great pop album that features many different styles and genres. Paul McCartney is in this album. You've probably heard all of these songs against your will at some point in your life.

Fav Song: Billie Jean

Overall: 4/10

I like the Bee Gees so I didn't expect to dislike this as much as I did. The biggest problem is that it's too long. The second problem is that it's incredibly boring. I'm not gonna diss it too much since the vocals are great and a couple of songs were interesting, but overall it's not for me.

Fav Song: Suddenly

Overall: 8/10

Oh Dennis, I didn't know you had it in you. This is a fantastic collection of rock songs and pretty ballads, with a little bit of funk in there as well! As a minor Beach Boys fan (I like maybe 4 of their albums in total), I never had much thought about Dennis. Seems he lived a very interesting but rough life. None of that really shows in this album though. It sounds like it was made by somebody optimistic and kind. Good stuff, Mr. Wilson.

Fav Song: You and I

Overall: 5/10

I found this to be completely fine. The vocals were the most interesting part for me, the instrumentations felt incredibly repetitive and I found myself getting pretty bored throughout. I'll have to admit though that I'm still not too familiar with this type of music so my opinions on this may change one day.

Fav Song: Salminanam

Overall: 8/10

Honestly this was such a vibe. Very hypnotic electronic music that was obviously a precursor for the 90s electronic explosion. I can see how Kraftwerk are considered so influential. I don't know why I enjoy this more than other electronic music, cause it's just as repetitive, but I thought it was great.

Fav Song: Showroom Dummies

Overall: 7/10

I love Tom Petty's voice so much, I find it really unique in a way that I can't really pinpoint. Some of the songs on here feel fresh, despite the fact that Petty and the gang were obviously heavily influenced by groups and artists that came before them. The big problem with this album for me is that (apparently) a bunch of the songs were written and recorded in a single afternoon, and that's unfortunately pretty obvious once you know that factoid. There's quite a bit of filler for a 30 minute album. Regardless, Tom's energy saves this from being a dud, and I think it's still a solid debut. The band and Mr. Petty himself would go on to do better things.

Fav Song: American Girl

Overall: 6/10

The songs here are incredibly catchy and I love the harmonies. I love that the songs had a bit of a country feel at times. I don't think I'll be coming back to it very often, but I enjoyed it.

Fav Song: One Horse Town

Overall: 8/10

This is a great ska album with heavy metal influence. I love how many genres they're able to mash up here, and the funkiest basslines known to man can be found on this album. So much fun.

Fav Song: Bonin' in the Boneyard

Overall: 7/10

You may say this album hasn't aged well and I'd have no argument against that. It's very much a product of the 80s. For some reason, I enjoy this more than most of the 80s synthpop I've gotten so far. I found myself having a lot of fun with it.

Fav Song: Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel

Overall: 3/10

My 2nd Springsteen album I've gotten so far, and it's shockingly worse than the 1st one. I just can't stand the man's voice. It's a shame because he seems like a very levelheaded and cool person, and the songs he writes wouldn't be so terrible if somebody else was singing them. I've just genuinely never heard a voice that I dislike more. I want to like it but it's just not possible.

I will admit though.....Glory Days is kind of a banger and I always forget The Boss wrote it.

Fav Song: Glory Days

Overall: 6/10

Eminem was huge with me and my friends in middle school, when we were all just getting into rap music. I remember finding his lyrical style hilarious and really liking his voice and flow. Maybe it's because I've been hearing these songs for my entire life, but they don't have the impact on me in my late 20s that they did in my early teens. I still find Shady to be a very talented lyricist, but he surprisingly doesn't have a lot of range. I'm still going to give this a decent rating because of nostalgia. These songs have been important to me my entire life and I don't want to punish the album for being overplayed.

I will quickly talk about Stan though, which I think is Marshall's magnum opus. The concept of a crazy fan sending him letters that get increasingly unhinged is such a creative idea and I think he nailed it. I wish more of the album was like that song.

Fav Song: Stan

Overall: 6/10

In a perfect world, the fact that I don't speak french would have no impact on my rating of this album. Unfortunately, we live in a very flawed and insane world. Lyrics are so important to rap music and I have no idea what he's saying. I'm not letting it affect the rating too much but it loses at least one point.

Aside from the lyrics I don't understand, he has a really nice flow which I find pleasant to listen to. On top of that, the beats and instrumentals are pretty great, and I would have believed you if you said this came out in the early 2000s. Overall, I enjoy it more than I expected to, and maybe one day I'll learn french so I can understand the lyrics.

Fav Song: Matière grasse contre matière grise

Overall: 7/10

Finding all the songs from this album was an absolute pain in the butt, but once I got them all in a playlist it was a breeze to listen to. Compared to other rock albums of this time, I found this album to be incredibly chill and relaxing. They were pretty much all mid tempo songs and Fats, while not having a crazy impressive voice, had a calming effect on the listener. I'd probably come back to this one if I didn't have to put so much effort into finding every track.

Fav Song: Blueberry Hill

Overall: 4/10

Thrift store Oasis with annoying vocals. There were a couple good songs on here but it mostly sounded derivative and bland. Big pass for me.

Fav Song: You're a Big Girl Now

Overall: 8/10

I love me some Judas Priest. Rob Halford has such a wide ranging voice and it blows me away every time I hear him. This album was actually one of the first ones where they started to include some softer, hard rock songs, but it still rips when it needs to. There's actually a few other Priest albums I would have included in this list over British Steel (Sad Wings of Destiny, Screaming for Vengeance, Painkiller) but those albums don't have Breaking the Law so I get it. This one rocks a lot too, despite a couple cringey songs/lyrics.

Fav Song: Breaking the Law

Overall: 8/10

Fun hip hop! I feel like more hip hop artists would benefit from having an actual band involved, it makes the music feel so much more dynamic. Great flow and lyrics as well.

Fav Song: Water

Overall: 10/10

I'm blown away by the fact that this album came out in the 60s. There's a lot of genre blending here, with some folk, punk, psychedelia and even some latin influences sprinkled in for good measure. The album even closes with a goliath 18 minute track, a rare occurence in the 60s. I had such a great time listening to this and I'm glad to have a new favourite.

Fav Song: ¡Que Vida!

Overall: 7/10

Aretha is a legend. I don't think I need to tell you she has an incredible voice. The songs here were all good choices for her and I enjoyed pretty much all of them. At the same time, they all sounded a little too similar at times. Still a really good album.

Fav Song: Groovin'