Reviews by mattrickpow

Overall: 6/10

I'm gonna be that guy and compare this to Radiohead, cause Rufus sounds so much like Thom Yorke that it's insane.

I used to really hate Radiohead, and it was in the past couple of years that they finally clicked for me, but there was/is still one big issue I have with them: the whiney vocals. This is like Radiohead without the incredible songwriting. It's very whiney and the notes are ALWAYS drawn out like crazy. I do think the album is good, but it would have been even better if Rufus actually knew how to write an interesting melody.

Fav Song: Peach Trees

Overall: 6/10

I think this is the best vehicle for Rod Stewart's voice. I've never really been a fan of his because he sounds like he gargles glass before he sings, but it works for this type of classic rock. The band itself is prettt good too, and I like the songs they put together here for the most part. Some of it was generic and uninteresting but there's some gems in here.

Fav Song: Stay with Me

Overall: 5/10

She has a lovely voice, and I do like the songs for the most part, but there's only so many songs about a bad relationship that I can put up with.

Fav Song: The Devil Gets His Due

Overall: 2/10

This has the honour of being my favourite Smiths album. There are actually quite a few moments on that album that make me go "wait actually this is kind of good", and then Morrissey opens his mouth and makes his whale sounds for the world to cringe at. The bass work on this album is actually quite good, but it's hard to enjoy with such a godawful vocalist. This one made me realize I might actually be willing to give The Smiths a chance if it wasn't for that idiot.

Fav Song: I Want the One I Can't Have

Overall: 4/10

This will dissapoint my dad and all the other dad's out there, but I find Cheap Trick incredibly boring. This album just proved to me that they're even more boring when they're live! Just a bunch of boring riffs and stupid lyrics.

Fav Song: Surrender

Overall: 8/10

I can always rely on Elvis Costello to write an absolute banger of an album. After experimenting with a few different styles for a couple albums, Elvis and the Attractions went right back to the style that they mastered on This Year's Model and Armed Forces. While the songs aren't as good here as those two albums, there's a lot of stuff to love here and the band is on top form. Elvis is a masterful lyricist and there's a lot of fun wordplay on this album.

Fav Song: Tears Before Bedtime

Overall: 7/10

I've never been the biggest fan of Courtney Love as a person, but I'll always defend her as a musician and artist. Her music is great. Her voice is rough but there's a feminine beauty behind all of that. The songs may not be the most original or daring, but she does her style very well. I'll always recommend Hole to anyone who asks about them.

Fav Song: Reasons to Be Beautiful

Overall: 7/10

This is my first Miles Davis album, and I was pretty excited since he's considered one of the all time great jazz musicians, and jazz is a genre I'm still dipping my toes into. Imagine my surprise when I heard a lot of rock influences on this. I guess it's jazz fusion, which I wasn't dven aware was something Miles had dabbled in. I found it very relaxing and interesting to listen to. I'd give it a higher rating, but I zoned out a bit more than I'd like to admit. The talent is there, but this isn't something I'm gonna revisit very often, if at all.

Fav Song: In a Silent Way

Overall: 10/10

Sebadoh is a band I've wanted to check out ever since I got into Dinosaur Jr., but for some reason I just never got around to it. Once I saw that they had an album in this list, I decided to put off listening to them even longer, and I'm so glad I decided to be patient cause this blew me away.

The thing I love the most about this album is the guitar work. It's so strange and creative and I found myself blown away by it at multiple times during this album. I also love that there's a good mix of pretty slow songs and hard rocking weirdo jams. I quite honestly think this could be my favourite new discovery from this list because it's so out there and cool.

Fav Song: Fantastic Disaster

Overall: 8/10

This was a chill rock/pop album with very dreamy and beautiful vocals. I had an amazing time with this one, the layered sounds add such an interesting texture to these songs, and it's obvious that whoever produced this had a great time making it.

Fav Song: The Lightning Back

Overall: 2/10

Giving this a 2/10 cause it takes a special talent to make something this dogshit.

Favourite Song: Memories (the only song I actually enjoyed)

Overall: 7/10

This was a really fun album with some great instrumentation. I may not have understood what they were saying but I think I was able to pick up on the vibes. I'd listen to this again.

Fav Song: Siembra

Overall: 8/10

I love ELO. This isn't even their best album and it's chock full of really great stuff. It's sort of proggy but it doesn't get crazy so its a bit more accessible to general audiences.

Fav Song: Starlight

Overall: 7/10

This is a cool punk album that got pretty gothic at times. There were times that I heard the Misfits, Type O Negative and even R.E.M. in their music, and this came out before all of that! It would have been cool to have the first Damned album on here as well, but I think this was a good choice.

Fav Song: Smash It Up

Overall: 6/10

I appreciate the pretty instrumentations and Caetano has a pretty good voice, but this isn't something I see myself coming back to a lot. Another one of those albums that I respect more than I enjoy.

Fav Song: Soy Loco Por Ti America

Overall: 7/10

The vocals are bad, the production is almost unlistenable and the instrumentation is kind of lackluster. None of that stopped me from having a really great time with album. Everybody has to start somewhere, and I hear so much of my favourite bands in this album that it wouldn't have shocked me if this came out a few years later than it did. If you enjoy bands like Slayer, Death or even Lamb of God, then you need to acknowledge how important this album is to the history of metal. I also enjoy that these guys don't take themselves seriously at all. For all of it's flaws, it's a fun album.

Fav Song: Black Metal

Overall: 6/10

This was fine. I love Frank's voice so I'll always be glad to hear him, but some of the songs here have been featured on other albums with singers better suited for the music. The guitar playing is truly beautiful though and if you're a Sinatra stan then you'll get a lot out of this.

Fav Song: Baubles, Bangles and Beads

Overall: 7/10

Honestly there's some bangers on this one, Chuck is still killing it on the vocals and Flav is so much fun to listen to. I would honestly say this is my second favourite Public Enemy album.

Fav Song: Nighttrain

Overall: 6/10

Wow, late era Elvis is really not that great. I enjoy a lot of it, Elvis sounds great on this album and the slow songs are pretty good, but the production is mediocre and the songs overall just aren't amazing. I'll stick to early Elvis.

Fav Song: It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'

Overall: 7/10

This one is an album that needs the context to really get the most out of the experience. Being able to improvise on the spot like this is pretty incredible, and I can imagine that if I was in the audience for this, it would be one of the greatest things I could ever experience. Listening to it decades later in my bedroom takes away some of the charm of that incredible display of musicianship, but I still really enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to experience this.

Fav Song: uuuuuhhh, the first track