Reviews by mattrickpow

Overall: 8/10

I love me some funk. Bootsy Collins on the bass makes this the funkiest album I've ever heard. George Clinton is also an underrated vocalist in my opinion, he gets a lot of praise for being the bandleader but his vocals are so groovy. I wish this was on spotify so I could save some of these songs to my playlist, but oh well. It's still so great.

Fav Song: Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!
Least Fav Song: Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)

Overall: 8/10

I absolutely adore prog rock, so I obviously have a lot of love for the first fully prog album (some would argue The Moody Blues did it first with Days of Future Passed in 1967 but those people are nuts.) It opens with one of the best songs ever written, 21st Century Schizoid Man. This song blew my mind the first time I heard it and it still blows my mind years later. I Talk to the Wind isn't bad but it's a bit of a letdown after such a scorcher. Epitaph is another masterpiece. Moonchild starts off pretty good but becomes a little too minimalistic for me by the end. Finally, The Court of the Crimson King has some great harmonies and ends the album off on a high note. It's truly a great album, even if I prefer others in the King Crimson discography.

Fav Song: 21st Century Schizoid Man
Least Fav Song: Moonchild

Overall: 8/10

Another pretty great album from the Stones. I think they kind of had their formula in place to the point that they could sleepwalk into writing a good song. I think what makes this album for me is the slower tracks, which I think the band is generally hit or miss with. I really love the idea of someone hearing Wild Horses on the radio and thinking "I'm gonna look up the album this is on!" only to have some bulge staring them in the face.

Fav Song: Wild Horses
Least Fav Song: You Gotta Move

Overall: 7/10

Pretty cool african (inspired?) jazz music. A lot of it reminded me of the type of music they would play in Cowboy Bebop. It's all very energetic and doesn't let up for a second. I won't be listening to it very often as it's not my favourite type of music in general but I had a really great time with it.

Fav Song: Frenzy
Least Fav Song: Cannonology

Overall: 8/10

I think Little Richard is my favourite of all the early rock n' roll stars. He had such a powerful voice and maybe more than anyone, he was able to show off his personality in his vocals. This album still suffers from the issue that most 50s rock does and that's the fact that the songs start to sound the same after a bit. It's not as much of an issue here as I just love this dude so much.

Fav Song: Slippin' and Slidin' (Peepin' and Hidin')
Least Fav Song: Ready Teddy

Overall: 9/10

This album felt like a ray of sunshine peeking through the cracks of my mind. I felt incredibly chill throughout the listening experience but I was able to pick up on some dancey, catchy bits too. The production is insane and there's a lot of sounds added that enhance the experience. Such a great album, glad it was part of this project.

Fav Song: I'm the Man Who Loves You
Least Fav Song: Radio Cure

Overall: 7/10

It's always interesting to me when an album like this pops up in the generator. I usually start out heavily dissapointed that it's not something I already know I'm going to enjoy, and then I end up having a good time anyway. Maybe it helps that I didn't have very high expectations. This music is so fun and strange. I can see it being the score of some romantic comedy where they're travelling through europe. The vibraphone was probably my favourite part, you don't hear that kind of instrument a lot in music. I'm glad I got to listen to this.

Fav Song: Laura's Dream
Least Fav Song: Little Italy

Overall: 5/10

So they sound amazing. I can't deny that. Sadly, I just don't want to listen to a live album that's half noodling around. Especially when almost every single song appears on other albums in this list. I just find that incredibly annoying.

Fav Song: Highway Star
Least Fav Song: The Mule

Overall: 9/10

I got really obsessed with the song Wuthering Heights a few months ago and for some reason I never dived that deep into Kate's discography. Of course, I ended up loving this album. She had such a unique sound and her vocals are otherwordly. I already knew Running Up That Hill but pretty much every track here slaps. Easily the coolest pop artist of all time.

Fav Song: Cloudbusting
Least Fav Song: Waking the Witch

Overall: 1/10

I hate to say this but that is probably the single most annoying voice I've heard in my entire life. I truly couldn't stand this and I'm upset that I listened to it.

Fav Song: For Today I'm a Boy
Least Fav Song: Hope There's Someone

Overall: 8/10

I'm glad this was as strange as I was hoping it would be. It's crazy that this came out in 1972. I think this is one of those bands where every single member brings something special and unique to the table. I love the vocals and drums especially. Very ahead of it's time and worth checking out.

Fav Song: Sea Breezes
Least Fav Song: 2HB

Overall: 10/10

Beautiful. I've always adored this album. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is an epic tribute to an old friend. Welcome to the Machine is electronic goodness. Have a Cigar is the hard rocker with probably my favourite bassline in any Pink Floyd song. Wish You Were Here is just one of the best songs ever written. This is definitely an album everyone should listen to before they die.

Fav Song: Wish You Were Here
Least Fav Song: Welcome to the Machine

Overall: 5/10

Everything about it is fine and there's nothing that I really disliked, but I was kind of bored and it became background music pretty quickly. Reggae is hit or miss for me if discovered.

Fav Song: Tyler
Least Fav Song: Adella

Overall: 2/10

The music is fine itself but man, those vocals and lyrics are awful. I'm reminded way too much of The Smiths (who I despise). So annoying. It just kept getting worse the longer I listened to it.

Fav Song: Rattlesnakes
Least Fav Song: 2cv

Overall: 7/10

I'm having a tough time with this one. On the one hand, it's unique and there's some jams on here that I really loved. The lyrics are always pretty great and I love the guitar work. On the other hand, the songs get very strange and avant-garde at times. I love weird music but for some reason it's a bit of a turn off here. I also liked the short song Mansion that opened the album and it got me excited for what seemed like it was gonna be a goth rock album. Not at all. I don't know how to feel at all but I liked more than I disliked. I may need to listen to this one a few more times.

Update: My second listen was much better, I think I mostly get what they're going for now. I still think it'll grow on me with time but for now I really like it.

Fav Song: Spoilt Victorian Child
Least Fav Song: What You Need

Overall: 8/10

This album ROCKS. Every element of the band comes together to make something that's way heavier than most of the music that was coming out today. A lot of people consider this a metal album and, while it is tame by today's standards, I can see where those people are coming from. I can hear how they may have influenced the Judas Priest/Iron Maiden types of metal. Neither of those bands had an organ player though so who's the real winner there?

Fav Song: Child in Time
Least Fav Song: Bloodsucker

Overall: 7/10

This is a really fun album. The blues is ironically very upbeat at times and when it comes to this album specifically, I actually enjoy the live atmosphere compared to other live albums. It adds a lot to songs I haven't heard before. B.B. King is a great singer and guitarist.

Fav Song: Worry, Worry
Least Fav Song: Woke Up This Mornin'

Overall: 6/10

This one wasn't really necessary to include on the list at all....even though I liked it, I'm more upset this is here than some of the albums I've hated (Joshua Tree, for example. At least that one is culturally significant for some reason). I love Damon Albarn, but it's not essential for us to listen to every single thing he does. With that being said, this is a decent little sidetrack of an album. Very mellow. Just lacking in anything super interesting.

Fav Song: 80s Life
Least Fav Song: The Bunting Song

Overall: 8/10

So 80s hip hop tends to feel very "barbaric" in a way. It's the same as any new movement really, and most 80s hip hop albums tend to be bare bones and basic. This album suffers from that slightly but it's saved by the fact that Chuck was the most gifted lyricist of his time and he actually had something to say. Top that off with Flavor Flav's hype work and baby, you got a stew going! The beats also occasionally dip into some interesting sounds that other hip hop artists weren't really producing at this time. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that this album feels like an important stepping stone in the evolution of hip hop, and that alone makes it worth listening to.

Fav Song: Bring the Noise
Least Fav Song: Cold Lampin' with Flavor

Overall: 4/10

While there are some good moments on here, I found it pretty underwhelming overall. The big highlight is the lyrics. I think if the instrumentals were better I'd enjoy this more but I found them bland, especially the drums. Not for me.

Fav Song: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten (what a dumb 90s name)
Least Fav Song: Greenville