Reviews by mibbiesaye

Wikipedia says there is an alternative version without the slightly too sweet Jordanaire style backing vocals. I would love to hear that but couldn't find it anywhere.

For a band and an album with such an experimental reputation I'm surprised at how similar all the tracks sound. A wee bit too on the wacky side of things for me but a fun listen.

I really like Neil Tennant's almost no effort singing style. I can get why it annoys some people but I like that he leans into his limitations and uses it to fit with the mood they create in their music.

I have a slightly crackly old copy of this on vinyl. It always makes me think I need to go back and explore the rest of their career. I liked the albums before and after this one too.

I would have thought Life's a Riot would be the one you had to hear but this is pretty great too. Help Save The Youth of America is more relevant now than then even if it remains a little condescending.

It's sort of like a full album of Virginia Plain which sounds like a lot of fun but can be a bit exhausting to my ears. However, when I focused in on the lyrics rather than the slightly strained falsetto it did become a lot more fun.

I suppose this album is doing its job if it is upsetting people who think "nobody was talking about race 15 years ago".

I also see people complaining of a lack of passion or anger. I dunno, not everything needs to be histrionic and besides this is as much as celebration as a protest. I like its cool modern approach to soul.

I'm just not a fan of Gangsta Rap. It felt like a regressive step after the big hiphop acts of the 80s/early 90s. You can hear he is incredibly smart with words but the subject matter gets old quickly. I don't think the production is up to much either.

I liked this a bit more than I expected. I never really liked the jazz pop hit but the album overall has a woozy messiness I can appreciate.

However, I still think his greatest contribution to music is the time Mark E Smith from The Fall decided he was a taxi driver and forced him to drive him home. The next morning BDB found Mark's dentures on his back seat and dutifully returned them. You know people were already saying MES was unintelligible but can you imagine....

Too smooth for me. The lyrics to Space Cowboy were funny.

I've got the opposite problem to some. I wish this was more 'self indulgent' and they did more of the jazzy noodly stuff. When they play that bog standard blues rock stuff I have the same feeling I always do. I'm sat there thinking to myself wondering why aren't I just listening to Howlin' Wolf rather than this tribute act.

This is not a compilation despite what some reviews are saying. It is a pretty great artistic statement done at scale.

I recommend not trying to listen in one sitting. The 'Did not listen' button is super handy for an entry like this. I listened over three sittings but I could just as easily imagine sprinkling it throughout a full week's worth of listening. In fact I probably didn't do some of these perfectly sung and arranged witty songs justice even at that pace.

Poised just on the cusp of all those great 70s soul sounds being sanitised out by 80s production values.

And some people think Lulu was the only thing coming out of Scotland in the 60s.

A lot of jangly indie guitarists in the 80s only had Roger McGuinn to fall back on. Johnny Marr also had Bert Jansch.

I saw them on the tour for this. Completely rocked my world. The South Bank Show documentary from around the same time is worth seeking out. It has some great live to camera performances including a wild half abandoned broken string Silver Rocket.

They had everything. Innovative but commercial, joyful and angry, the best short pop tunes and blasted stretched out improvs.

This process is making me listen to far too many mediocre Britpop albums. In my lenient phase I might have given this a 3 for Caught By The Fuzz and the video for Alright but really I would have been ignoring the blandness of the rest of it.

Like floating in a giant sized bubble bath.

Sorry Tom I've been too lenient recently and rounding up too many 2.5s to 3s and then making 3s into 4s. You're inoffensive and slightly bland offering has to be rounded down.

I was a little underwhelmed by the popular follow up to this, Bakesale, and it was the only Sebadoh I heard at the time. I missed out.

Three Queeh albums on this, all from the 70s. A very Rock Critic choice.