Reviews by meemesker

So every time Damon Albarn has a jam session with someone, is it gonna show up on the list?

Thank you 1001 for pointing out yet another country artist I've slept on for far too long. My soft spot for 60s and 70s country continues to grow. The title track is a gut punch!

I like pre-disco Bee Gees, but why this particular album is on the list is kind of puzzling to me - especially when "Odessa" is already on here. I must admit, their voices often stray into the "is this a joke?" territory, and it's hard to take it seriously.

Starts off with a total faceplant of a first track. Downright shudder inducing - particularly when you get to the MC. Definitely feels like a collection of tracks vs. an actual album. They weren't even sequenced in an interesting way. No flow at all. There are more impressive electronic albums from the year 1990. I'd swap this one out for Meat Beat Manifesto's "99%." Just because The Shamen are a time capsule of the more embarrassing cliches of electronica's awkward adolescent phase in the early 90s, this doesn't necessarily qualify them for a place on the list.

U2 are a polarizing group, but when I listen to something like "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" or "New Year's Day" all the usual criticisms seem to melt away. This is a lean, tight record with a big sound.

I am both intrigued and annoyed by this. The beats are closer to electronica, which makes it compelling, but they tend to be on the abrasive side. I can take it for a song or so, but a whole album is taxing.

At their best they sound like they could be the house band at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. Simply amazing the way it was recorded with one mic and no overdubs. The natural reverb and atmosphere that was captured is gorgeous. The songs I like best are the ones where it's just the core group members and no additional guest musicians. Austere and haunting.

This was a big turning point in her career, but I kinda wish she'd shocked the world and made an art-pop masterpiece with Brian Eno instead. Guess there's still time. One can always dream.

I find it impressive that they can make the whiny thing work. Good energy.

This sounds like you asked chatGPT to generate an androgynous 80s pop album. Almost comes across like a parody at certain points.

Though this isn't something I'd put into my daily rotation, it resonates with me on a personal level far more than a great deal of other albums on this list. I know where the impulse to make something like this comes from, and you can hear how it gave permission to others that followed to go further down the trail they blazed here.

To me this is THE definitive psychedelic album. Certainly among the pioneers of the genre. At their best, they meld surf and garage rock into a hair raising sonic assault - often verging on proto punk. But there's a lovely sensitivity there as well. They don't overdue the effects, or include things like sitars, but the electric jug gives them an exotic, immediately identifiable sound of their own. I love that they came from Texas, and remained there, rather than fleeing for the coasts. Perhaps that was not necessarily by choice though, especially after Roky's mental breakdown and incarceration. Roky Erickson's story is fascinating - certainly a bit tragic, but there is a beautiful redemption there as well. I'd definitely recommend the documentary "You're Gonna Miss Me" that came out on him around 2007. He's like an American Syd Barrett that miraculously kept coming back again and again over the years despite the odds. A beautiful, if tortured, soul.

Accessible prog.

Perhaps the 21st Century's definitive statement on dick and pussy.

The main thing that occurs to me when I listen to this, is that I wish Phil Spector had produced an album for Harry Nilsson around the time this record came out. That thought aside, this really is a pretty remarkable achievement for the guy who started his career in '61 with "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," and "Dream Lover."

This album's a drag. Chock full of country cliches that never let up.

Cocaine's a hell of a drug. And this is a hell of an album.

Like a goth U2.

I like a fair amount of what's going on here musically, especially considering it came out in 86, but vocally/lyrically I'm not as big of a fan. They definitely have their own sound, but the different elements kind of cancel each other out. Respect for being pioneers in the "college rock" era. Ahead of their time to be sure, but not something I find pleasurable.

Just listen to the original 1956 LP if you're on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FTvPX7D3ogej9MVJQqqdv?si=aamNrTJaR2muafMlxGG4sA

The end of "Festival Junction" is so over the top, it made me laugh in disbelief. Definitely preferred the more down tempo numbers like "Blues To Be There."