Reviews by meemesker

Saw them back around 2002 in St Louis. Fun show. I like the punk energy combined with the minimal synth and samples. This music is like a Kind bar where it's sorta healthy but it's really just a candy bar.

Very much not my thing. And an hour and a half of it to boot. Definitely could have been refined and edited down to 45 minutes or split into two separate albums. Had to skip some of the tracks. The combination of the awkward lyrics with the awkward singing made it almost painful. The Southern pride thing comes across in a way that I find alienating. Feel like much of the content of this album could be handled musically in better hands, but the way they do it, it's like they're trying to collage 2 books together into an album (sometimes even a song) and it just comes across as ham fisted. Half the album wants to be a history lesson about Alabama and Southern culture and the other half is like this short story collection of tales of gritty wild life and being a musician in the South. Trying to do too much at once. I get they're trying to be raw and honest but it just comes across as unrefined and self indulgent.

I generally like U2. Especially when they are working with Eno. The songs on this album are pretty hit or miss with me though. The tracks I think work best are Beautiful Day and In a Little while.

Sounds like a musical soundtrack where I'm missing something by not experiencing the songs in the context of the film (which doesn't exist). Maybe someone should make a musical built around these songs? This album made me hungry for drums. The whole thing comes across as a sort of musical appetizer to me - it's got a nice flavor but doesn't leave me feeling full. I respect this and all but as the thing drags on, on a personal level I must admit I simply don't enjoy it (at least an albums worth of it). I honestly find ambient music more exciting than this. Great album cover though.

This is my favorite era for Miles though it may not be for many others. I love getting lost in these jams especially the way they are edited together to make these "movements" and suites. A bold experiment in searching for a new sound and creating a new subgenre in the process.

Love the atmospheric instrumental opening. Really got lost in it. Kinda prefer the more instrumental passages throughout the album.

Got that indie sound of it's era. Ornate. Too pretty for me.

Oasis never really did much for me and still don't. I actually expected to dislike this more but it's tolerable. I understand why people like it but as with a lot of music, I think it comes down to something in the vocal delivery and lyrics that irks me.

Best disco album of all time? Love the bass and guitar playing. Robert Wyatt's cover of "At Last I Am Free" is one of my favorite covers of all time so of course I love the original as well.

This is the Tim Buckley I can get down with. Love the jazz fusion with the vibraphone. Got a vibe that I can only compare to Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" (but I like this even better). Soul searching jams to get lost in.

Ambitious but unfocused. This postmodern amalgam doesn't really do much for me. Rather listen to their myriad influences.

Perhaps their best album. Like both sides of it. The side A song suite and the side B collection of looser and poppier material. Some incredibly iconic songs here. Grew up on this stuff.

In the vein of Public Enemy. I like the atmospheres created here. Wish this style of social/political protest music was able to catch on more.

Tired of Morrisey at this point in his career. Tired of "comeback" albums on this list as well. This doesn't resonate for me emotionally. I feel like his lyrics have become less refined and more clumsy on this. Production is too clean and verging into corny territory at times. It's also got one of the lamest album covers I've ever seen.

I'm a big fan of Graham Nash, especially his first two solo albums. But this album sounds more like a Stephen Stills album, who is my least favorite of the three. Prefer CSNY to CSN.

Beastie Boys are inseperable from my adolescence. They certainly embody a certain amount of immaturity at this stage in their career, and to some that might be a turn off, but I see it as part of their charm. They're just kids playing around and having fun in the largely unchartered territory of a blossoming new genre in the middle of it's major breakthrough into the mainstream. The main thing is I think they are being true to themselves and who they were at the time. They present a brash, cocky, immature, irresponsible, unrealistic sort of fantasy world projection that sounds fun as hell. It's very clear they're just messing about and making up ridiculous shit to crack each other up. The fun they had making this album is palpable and I find it contagious. I love the Run DMC-like way they finish each other's lines and back each other up for emphasis. They stuck to that technique throughout their career even after it eventually fell out of fashion but I think it speaks to their connection as songwriters, performers, and even as people. You can tell they enjoyed working together and shared a wavelength. Musically I'm a sucker for the 808 sound and I love the dominance of guitar samples that give it that rock punch. Beyond this album I love their wild career trajectory, from their early punk formation, to this album's golden era hip hop sound, to the hyper-collage of Paul's Boutique, to the genre bending albums that came afterwards which I consider their peak. I enjoyed this one but I look forward to hearing more of their albums on this list.

I was getting pretty deep into noise music and living with an alcoholic around the time when this album came out so I kinda missed it. Seems to be a fine album. Reminds me of Modest Mouse. These songs sound like they were practically made to be used in ads for relatively large companies seeking to cash in on indie cred.

Love the atmosphere here. Very unique and detailed sound. Headphone ride.

I like the early stuff from the mekons more. I found this to be a bit of a chore even with the short runtime. Don't dig the folksier arrangements.

For a long time this was my favorite Bowie album until I got swept up into the mythology of the Berlin Trilogy. I will say though that this may be the most enjoyable Bowie album and the most light hearted. He's definitely vibing on some Velvet Underground here.