Reviews by mibbiesaye

Grumpy Aerosmith. Or America's Oasis. They serve up regurgitated mashed up comfortable and easily identified rehashes of obvious pre-80s reference points but undeniably have some big tunes.

It's a shame this came out just as the CD era had hit full swing. If it had come out in the vinyl era they likely would have trimmed the fat and lost some of really ropey filler.

Showing the dullards how to be a suburban white kid playing the blues.

Nothing defines 15 year old me better than this album. It was the first album I massively anticipated by buying the singles, recording all the Peel sessions and recording their handful of TV appearances on VHS, and then if anything it was even more immense than I had hoped. Sort of gratifying it still annoys enough people to average under 3.0.

I was very popular in the family car with my cheap leaky walkman headphones blasting this on full. My mum got her revenge by saying that they sounded like Cliff Richard on Never Understand. Uhuhuh.

I also remember plenty old farts (people in their 20s) saying they were just a rehash of the Velvet Underground. "Pah who the hell were the Velvet Underground but ok I'll check them out?" TIME PASSES. "They're pretty cool but the Marychain are rehashing way more than VU, what are you on about?"

I see the reviews noting its influence on shoegaze. I think that's why I was always a bit lukewarm on that genre back then. It felt like it combined Psychocandy with the Cocteau Twins and diminished both. At least MBV had something extra.

Wow thirty years have passed since my John Cale obsession. It was great to revisit. Although I have to admit of those classic 70s albums this might have been one that I didn't listen to as closely as the others. Silly me cos it is great and full of mysteries and beautiful sounds.

Fear would probably work better for this project because it's songs are a little more immediate. I think the vocals are a little mushy in places on Paris 1919. Either are as good for the book, though.

If his solo stuff intrigues you after this a great primer is the solo voice and piano live album Fragments of a Rainy Season. You know how the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah was ubiquitous for so long because people belatedly freaked out over Jeff Buckley's version? That's as much down to the version on Fragments of a Rainy Season as it is old Len. That's the version Buckley loved and adapted. You can tell because Cale's and Buckley's versions have slightly different lyrics from Len's original. Len gifted the different lyrics to Cale after he himself had left them on the cutting room floor when he recorded his own version.

There's something about Keith Levine's sheet metal guitar set against Jah Wobble's lumbering sub bass that I can't get enough of on Theme.

It's kind of weird that the lead single off this invented U2. That aside it's the other truly genius moment. Annalisa and Low Life are also fantastic.

The lyrics on Relgion don't bother me although they are at the clumsily blunt end of Lydon's style. But I can't help but love his OTT delivery. The riff however and the change up to the chorus are a bit of a plod.

I prefer the team up with Toumani Diabate but this is still good.

One of those albums that rewards multiple listens. I hear something new each time. But it is pretty subtle so you need to listen in.

Some great albums work because they have a consistent mood or tone throughout. Take a breath, stick it on repeat.

Tactile for the 90s.

Why did I always imagine they were a two singles act? This was great. I liked the ballads too because it shows how tentative those first steps were for rap. Also Stevie deserves any tribute going.

Not an original thought: even though this is claimed by many as their best studio album if you really want to get to know the Dead and hear them at their best then seek out one of the countless official bootlegs. Especially one that includes a really long version of Dark Star.

This is amiable enough, sounding like a meeting of The Band with Crosby, Stills and Nash but with less memorable songs.

Very of its time but pretty enjoyable. At least it's not more 90s big beat. It outstays its welcome a bit.

There's definitely better funk albums from that time but it isn't the worst thing I've heard.

Beautifully produced with clever arrangements but to my ears a bit empty and dull.

That said anyone else worried about the guy who was looking forward to a nostalgia hit from his law school days soundtracked by this album only to find it "whiny" and "wussbag shit"? I'm picturing someone who has had his gentle youthful soul crushed by 15 years of corporate law and now he pumps iron to macho rawk at the weekend to blast the pain away.

Not the Billie Holiday I'm used to. I guess you can't include her classic recordings without choosing a compilation. Still very good. Surprising how well her voice works with these kind of late 50s lush arrangements.

This website has given me the impression that most Americans are obsessed with Weezer to the point they have convinced themselves that Weezer somehow invented the combination of loud guitars and sweet melodies. To me they are a one hit wonder given a leg up by Happy Days and a the numbers don't add up nostalgia for Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore.

Anyway, I daresay Ash do sound similar having similar reference points but I'm happy to prefer their genuinely youthful exuberance even if I forget there is a certain amount of written in the studio filler on this album that the big singles obscure in the memory.

Her voice isn't to my taste. It might be because she has been followed by just so many poor imitators. The arrangements on this are that neutered modern pop jazz thing that I find incredibly dull. One of the worst aspects are the rhythm tracks. Sure sampled drums and simple programmed drums are more up to date but they miss the point that jazz needs feel and swing.

I love getting an album on this that I love but I don't know inside out. You get to discover new things and there is so much to discover in this fantastic album.

A prog too far for me. The whole rock interpretations of classical pieces thing is so gimmicky. It's like James Last if you also like patchouli and joss sticks.

I heard The Band as a big influence on the first three tracks and thought oh maybe this won't be so bad but then the dreary blues widdling started in earnest and then I read about how badly ripped off Rita Coolidge was for the Layla coda and reflected on how there is always some new horrible detail to learn about Clapton's world.

That cover of Little Wing is overstuffed and clueless.

I am particularly enjoying the full spread of reviews on this one because I have held both positions on this record. My introduction to it was when I lived in a postage stamp student flat and my flatmate would blast this on Sunday mornings. I was still a fully blinkered indie kid at the time and I raged through my hangover at the weebly floaty jazzy nonsense of it all.

I don't know when it clicked for me but it was definitely years after all that. Now I think it is pure unfathomable magical alchemy.