Reviews by mattrickpow

Overall: 8/10

I absolutely adore how lively ol' blue eyes sounds on this album. Some of these songs have been so huge to pop culture in general that it's shocking to hear that they all come from the same album. I wish I could go back in time and hear these songs in the 50s. I'm also one of the few people (that I've seen) that prefers Sinatra's version of Pennies from Heaven to Luis Prima's, though Prima is a legend as well.

Fav Song: Pennies from Heaven
Least Fav Song: Anything Goes

Overall: 10/10

I am incredibly hungover today (not a big drinker but I went to a halloween party) and I found this to be the perfect music for today. This is a very chill album with gorgeous, haunting vocals and interesting uses of different instruments. I've also been a big fan of Geoff Barrow's collaborations with Ben Salisbury on the films of Alex Garland so it was cool to see a different side of him!

Update: For the first time since I've started doing this I've not only relistened to an album in the same day but I've now listened to this 4 times today and I'm blown away by it. I love finding a new favourite and this is easily the best discovery I've had with this list! Beth Gibbons may be an all-timer vocalist for me now.

Fav Song: The Rip
Least Fav Song: Deep Water (only because it's too short)

Overall: 2/10

I actually tend to enjoy country from the 50s, I just find these songs kind of annoying. The higher voice of the two is really grating to my ears. The songs themselves aren't terrible but I didn't like listening to this.

Fav Song: Alabama
Least Fav Song: I'll Be All Smiles Tonight

Overall: 8/10

Wow the generator saw my review from yesterday and said "I got you, fam". David Bowie is easily one of my top 10 favourite artists of all time, but this album never connected with me as much as some of his other works. That being said, I really enjoyed it on this listen! Maybe it just needed time to click for me but I really love the elements that gave me pause before (it's an incredibly excessive album). So glad to have more Bowie love in my life! Still not a Hunky Dory or "Heroes" but I'll still be adding most of these to my library!

Fav Song: Cracked Actor
Least Fav Song: Let's Spend the Night Together

Overall: 5/10

This was long and unimpressive. I found the songs to kind of drone on in the background of my thoughts and I kept wishing that I was just listening to David Bowie. There's obviously talent here but it isn't for me.

Fav Song: A Little Soul
Least Fav Song: Seductive Barry

Overall: 9/10

I must be crazy or something cause I actually much prefered this over Transformer! It seems more cohesive and I feel like the songs fit his voice better for the most part. I had a stupid grin on my face for most of the album and there's a couple songs that are definitely gonna be overplayed over the next few weeks. I'm a little sad I got both Lou Reed albums so early, but thankfully I still have some Velvet Underground coming up!

Fav Song: Caroline Says I
Least Fav Song: Berlin

Overall: 2/10

I don't really connect with this, I don't think it has anything to do with it not being in english cause I listen to Rammstein lol I just found the music kind of boring and the singing wasn't good enough to elevate the material. Edit: Just read the wikipedia article about this dude and YIKES...I'm able to separate the art from the artist but it's a good thing my rating is already low

Fav Song: Koweït, rive gauche
Least Fav Song: Conte de fées

Overall: 6/10

Pretty decent alt rock from the 90s, nothing stood out as amazing to me but it does a good job of blending rock with some electronic elements and the songs are consistently fun to listen to.

Fav Song:Queer
Least Fav Song: Supervixen

Overall: 8/10

This is such a great album! The guitar work is so interesting and the classic hardcore vocals sound amazing. I feel like this'll just get better with subsequent hearings.

Fav Song: Repeater
Least Fav Song: Two Beats Off

Overall: 6/10

Fhis album was kind of hit or miss for me. I think the electronic elements are ahead of its time and there's some jard rockers on here, but I'm not a big fan of the male vocals and a few of the songs seemed to just drone and drag. Still a good album, not really something I see myself listening to ever again.

Fav Song: The Garden of Earthly Delights
Least Fav Song: Love Song for the Dead Che

Overall: 7/10

This was my first bossanova album. It was pretty enjoyable! Very relaxing, love Getz on that saxophone always injecting some much needed flavour. I'll be listening to this one again.

Fav Song: The Girl from Ipanema
Least Fav Song: Só Danço Samba

Overall: 8/10

It's refreshing to hear an earlier version of ska, since nowadays that term is associated with 90s skate punk and has become somewhat of a meme. I really liked this, I think the old school punk approach fits this genre much better. The vocals feel kind of like The Clash to me. Also love the guitar work.

Fav Song: (Dawning of A) New Era
Least Fav Song: Do the Dog

I realized yesterday that going track by track is gonna give me terrible fatigue so I'm just gonna give a rating and general thoughts from now on.

Overall: 9/10

I first heard this album at the age of 13, when I saw the music video for "The Suburbs" on TV and wanted to check out their music. The Suburbs album hadn't come out yet so I downloaded this album to see what I was getting into and I couldn't believe just how good it was. I'd never heard this kind of indie rock before and I was blown away by the multiple instruments and I loved Win Butler's voice. Fast forwarding to my listen from today and it still sounds as fresh to me now as it did 14 years ago when I first heard it. Stellar stuff that I will always love.

Fav Song: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Least Fav Song: Une Annee San Lumiere

Track 1: Aalach Tloumouni (5/10)
I have no frame of reference for this type of music, and I'm not entirely sure if I like it. Dude's got a pretty good voice though.

Track 2: El Harba Wine (6/10)
I like the female vocals, goes well with the male vocals.

Track 3: C'est la Nuit (7/10)
French! I understand this kind of! Very cool, I like this one.

Track 4: Imagine (2/10)
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahaha

Track 5: Trigue Lycee (4/10)
I truly don't know how to feel about this album at this point lol it's okay I guess but not really my thing

Track 6: E'Dir E'Sseba (4/10)
I can't even review this lol

Track 7: Ya Aachkou (2/10)
No thank you, I hated this one lol way too poppy

Track 8: Melha (3/10)
I just find this really comical honestly

Track 9: Raba-Raba (?????)

Overall: 3/10

So I listened to the whole thing but I had to abandon my usual track by track format cause I have nothing to say about this. It's not that it was bad but I have no idea how to rate something like this so I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Fav Song: C'est la Nuit
Least Fav Song: Imagine

Track 1: Sign 'O' the Times (8/10)
Prince was such a great lyricist. This is a pretty dark song and I think it's great.

Track 2: Play in the Sunshine (7/10)
I like the backup vocals in this song. The lyrics are weirdly apocalyptic? At least that's how I interpret it.

Track 3: Housequake (7/10)
The poppiest, most danceable song yet!

Track 4: The Ballad of Dorothy Parker (9/10)
Excellent storytelling! Very funky bassline.

Track 5: It (7/10)
I like the 80s sounding percussion on this track lol it's a pretty fun song about doing "It"

Track 6: Starfish and Coffee (9/10)
All Prince needed to make a great jam was a piano and some backup singers. Such a great song.

Track 7: Slow Love (6/10)
I'm not incredibly into these slow "bedroom time" songs, but it's good for what it is.

Track 8: Hot Thing (7/10)
Hell yeah, more music to dance to!

Track 9: Forever in My Life (5/10)
Found this kind of boring tbh

Track 10: U Got the Look (7/10)
Fun song, not incredibly diverse.

Track 11: If I Was Your Girlfriend (8/10)
This is the only song I knew going in, it's so great. Love the slappy bass.

Track 12: Strange Relationship (6/10)
It was okay, nothing really stood out to me.

Track 13: I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (8/10)
Very fun and funky!

Track 14: The Cross (8/10)
The most rocking song on the album!

Track 15: It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night (7/10)
This one was kind of hypnotic, I was digging it.

Track 16: Adore (7/10)
Great track!

Overall: 7/10

The only issue with doing this for me is that sometimes you'll get an album that you may not be into at the moment. I'm gonna have to relisten to this on a day where I'm feeling more mentally up for it but I did enjoy it still!

Fav Song: Starfish and Coffee
Least Fav Song: Forever in My Life

Track 1: Hello Morning (N/A)
This is my first exposure to noise rock. I'm considering this an intro instead of an actual song.

Track 2: Assassins (7/10)
I'm shocked at how weirdly normal this song is? It definitley wasn't what I was expecting, it almost just sounds like a strangely atmospheric version of dance punk. I wouldn't say I love it but I dig it's vibe and I wouldn't mind it if the rest of the album was similar.

Track 3: Dracula Mountain (9/10)
I'm not aware of what a crowd at a noise rock show would be like but I could see myself having a life changing experience in a moshpit to this song lol it's just straight up hardcore punk to me and love that stuff.

Track 4: 2 Towers (6/10)
This is the first song so far that mostly just sounds like "noise", but I still think it would be great to see live. It's bursting with energy and it's almost hypnotic.

Track 5: On Fire (8/10)
The drumming is insane here! I'm really impressed by this honestly. It's got me headbanging hardcore.

Track 6: Crown of Storms (9/10)
This song is so cool. It reminds me of other genres yet feels completely new to me at the same time. That makes it hard to describe lol

Track 7: Longstockings (5/10)
Again this song is creative, though it wasn't as pleasant a listen as the other ones so far.

Track 8: Wonderful Rainbow (N/A)
I'm counting this as an interlude.

Track 9: 30,000 Monkies (6/10)
Tracks like this are more along the lines of what I imagined the entire album to be. I don't hate it but it's not something I see myself listening to again.

Track 10: Duel in the Deep (6/10)
I still really love the energy and I would love to experience music like this live, but this one ain't for me.

Overall: 7/10

I'm incredibly conflicted over this one. On one hand, some of the songs sound so familiar in style that they don't sound unpleasant. On the other hand, a lot of it really is just "noise", but it's a noise that I've never heard before and I respect it for making me experience a new form of music that I wasn't at all familiar with. I almost think it belongs in the list for that reason alone, cause I wouldn't have gotten to experience this otherwise. Not at all surprised it's rated so low.

Fav Song: Dracula Mountain
Least Fav Song: Longstockings

Track 1: School (8/10)
Outside of doing this list I've been listening to lots of prog rock so I'm very happy to get this album. I love this first track, the vocals are great and I enjoy the instrumental break in the middle.

Track 2: Bloody Well Right (9/10)
They hit gold with that chorus. The saxaphone is also stellar.

Track 3: Hide in Your Shell (7/10)
This was a very talented group of musicians. I don't think this song stands up to the first two but the instrumentation is impressive and I thought the last minute was great!

Track 4: Asylum (8/10)
The best song on a lyrical level so far. Great end to the first side of the record.

Track 5: Dreamer (9/10)
I don't know about the rest of the world but this song is a staple of Canadian rock radio so I've heard it all my life. It's such a classic. The vocal harmonies and the keyboards are highlights, and the song hits that perfect pop song length of 3½ minutes.

Track 6: Rudy (7/10)
This one was, again, impressive from a musical standpoint. Wasn't super into it for the whole time though.

Track 7: If Everyone Was Listening (7/10)
Pretty nice little track. Didn't wow me.

Track 8: Crime of the Century (8/10)
Awesome ending to the album, with some nice piano bits and my favourite saxaphone part on the album.

Overall: 8/10

This didn't excite me as much as I hoped it would, especially cause I adore Breakfast in America and was shocked that it wasn't included in the list. That being said, this really is an amazing album that I'll need to give a few relistens to. The first half was much better than the second half.

Fav Song: Dreamer
Least Fav Song: If Everyone Was Listening

Track 1: Little Child Runnin' Wild (7/10)
Love me the funky junk, the fact that this is from a film soundtrack is so cool. On a side note, I've been meaning to watch Superfly for years now, and I think this'll give me the motivation to see it just to see how they use these songs.

Track 2: Pusherman (9/10)
Damn, this one is a banger. Love the lyrics and the percussion.

Track 3: Freddie's Dead (8/10)
The strings are to die for! And is that a flute? Great instrumentation.

Track 4: Junkie Chase (7/10)
The funk flows through this short little instrumental that's obviously used in the movie for a chase scene. Very fun.

Track 5: Give Me Your Love (Love Song) (7/10)
The fun part of listening to this soundtrack is trying to figure out what kind of scene each song is from. I have a theory this is from a sex scene lol It would work perfectly in the background of gettin' freak-ay.

Track 6: Eddie You Should Know Better (7/10)
I haven't mentioned this yet but Curtis Mayfield has a lovely buttery voice. This song has so far been the best showcase of that and it's great.

Track 7: No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song) (7/10)
Continues the funkiness of the other tracks while still feeling fresh.

Track 8: Think (9/10)
I transcended into another plane of existence while listening to this. Stellar stuff, especially the strings.

Track 9: Superfly (8/10)
I really thought I might recognize this song but I somehow went my whole life never hearing it lol Lyrically the best song on the album, the bass line had me doing a stank face with how much it funked me up.

Overall: 7/10

This was a very consistent album with some obvious standouts. I'm not incredibly well versed in the worlds of soul and funk music, but this makes me want to hear more. I also want to watch the movie now.

Fav Song: Think
Least Fav Song: Junkie Chase

Track 1: Misunderstood (8/10)
The piano in this track is gorgeous. This is my first exposure to Wilco, and while I'm a bit anxious about the album runtime, this song is a good first impression.

Track 2: Far, Far Away (8/10)
Awe man, this is a great country rock song. Super chill and I really enjoy the vocals.

Track 3: Monday (7/10)
Didn't capture me like the first two tracks but I like the horn arrangements and it's pretty catchy.

Track 4: Outtasite (Outta Mind) (7/10)
Good track, short and to the point.

Track 5: Forget the Flowers (8/10)
Banjo makes every song better. Great guitar solo in this one too.

Track 6: Red-Eyed and Blue (9/10)
What a beautiful song! I even love the corny whistling near the end, this is easily my favourite song so far.

Track 7: I Got You (At the End of the Century) (7/10)
Solid rocker, could have been a huge hit in the early 2000s.

Track 8: What's the World Got in Store (7/10)
Cute little track.

Track 9: Hotel Arizona (6/10)
This one kind of went by without amy emotional response from me, which I found weird cause it's definitley a good song. Just one of those moments where I felt nothing from something that's obviously worthwhile. Oh well.

Track 10: Say You Miss Me (9/10)
So cute I wanna cry! Great end to the first half of the album. I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm gonna take a slight break before I start to feel the length of the album lol

Track 11: Sunken Treasure (7/10)
Pretty good, slightly longer than it could have been.

Track 12: Someday Soon (6/10)
Pretty standard southern rock tune.

Track 13: Outta Mind (Outta Sight) (6/10)
Meh...not too into the second half of this album so far.

Track 14: Someone Else's Song (9/10)
Very folksy, a highlight for sure! Great lyrics.

Track 15: Kingpin (7/10)
Pretty good, I loved the intro but the rest of the instrumentation isn't bad.

Track 16: (Was I) In Your Dreams (6/10)
Pretty boring track, wasn't wowed by his vocal delivery either.

Track 17: Why Would You Wanna Live (8/10)
Loved the instrumentation for this one. Very laid back but still fun!

Track 18: The Lonely 1 (6/10)
Couldn't keep my eyes open for this one lol

Track 19: Dreamer in My Dreams (7/10)
This feels like an improvised jam, but in a good way. Good end to the album.

Overall: 7/10

The biggest weakness of this album is definitley it's length. I don't think the material was good enough to justify this being a double album. The first half would have made a pretty stellar album on it's own, but as a whole it's not that special. Still enjoyable and I have a couple songs I'm saving for later.

Fav Song: Red-Eyed and Blue
Least Fav Song: (Was I) In Your Dreams

Track 1: Papercut (6/10)
Decent enough opening track. The outro is the best part cause Chester is actually singing.

Track 2: One Step Closer (9/10)
Very nostalgic and fun to listen to. Might not be a technical marvel but I love Chester'a voice and the chorus is so catchy.

Track 3: With You (6/10)
Good little track that sounds on par for this era of Linkin Park. Mike's raps are hit or miss for me but this one was okay!

Track 4: Points of Authority (7/10)
On the other hand, his rapping is the worst part of this song. Love the vocals and everything else sounds the same as he rest.

Track 5: Crawling (5/10)
Even when I was super into Linkin Park's singles, this was one that never got much of a reaction out of me. Not bad, but nothing special.

Track 6: Runaway (5/10)
I'm starting to get really bored of their formula. There's not much variety and I think they figured things out better on later releases.

Track 7: By Myself (6/10)
Chester's screams are so fire. Everything else is meh.

Track 8: In the End (9/10)
This is easily the best song on the album due to the piano intro and the chorus. I even love Mike's parts.

Track 9: A Place for My Head (5/10)
I liked the intro and it all went downhill from there.

Track 10: Forgotten (4/10)
The most straighforward nu-metal song on the album. Not a fan.

Track 11: Cure for the Itch (5/10)
Instrumental track that goes by quick and makes me feel nothing.

Track 12: Pushing Me Away (4/10)
This is a worse version of Crawling and I already don't enjoy Crawling.

Overall: 5/10

For nostalgia's sake, I wanted to rate this a 6 but it's not a good album. It probably sounded slightly different to everything else at the time but it isn't unique enough to be interesting and there's truly no diversity on the album. The only song that differs from the formula even a little bit is In the End. I love Chester's voice but nothing else about these guys really grabs me anymore. Very thankful for their existence though as High School me had a great time with them.

Fav Song: In the End
Least Fav Song: Forgotten