Reviews by mikey_nc

In a weaker artist’s hands this could easily be vapid and tedious. In Bjork’s hands it’s a minor masterpiece of weird pop. Only downside is a couple weak tracks.

I wasn’t very excited to see these guys come up again, but this is by far their best album: pretty and bright, but accented with gothic undertones. Love the melodies and the use of strings. I’ll be revisiting this one.

An indisputably fire album with a surprising level of depth. (CREAM is a far more meditative song than I thought it was at 18 years old.) I definitely have to be in the right mood to turn to the Wu, though.

Temu Oasis

I liked this album fine though I can’t really point to anything it’s doing that isn’t done better somewhere else. Most glaringly, David Watts is just a weaker copy of Let’s Spend the Night Together by the Stones. A nice listen but one I’ll never return to.

I just don’t like this style of synthpop. Very floaty and lacking in melodies (except for some annoying synth lines), with a breathy moany singer. I’ve never liked their one hit single either.

A very warm and wistful album, though a little snotty British edge is mixed in to keep things from getting boring. Love the melodies and atmosphere here. Britpop makes a lot more sense if you focus on its good bands.

Stevie’s most introspective and thoughtful album. Less immediate, but still weighty, catchy, and well-crafted. Could see it becoming a 5 down the line.

I like the sound of this album and appreciate its (relative) variety, but I really don’t need this to be so long. The band’s commitment to stripped-back punk simplicity means it can’t help but be monotonous after a certain point, ergo the (relative) tag.

Certainly a well made album with impressive production and vocals, but not one I can bring myself to care much about. Everything is just too slick and perfected. A couple songs sounded like Disney music for adults.

Queen will always be rock for theater kids. That doesn’t mean they’re not good, of course.

A few nice guitar riffs and melodies here. Marc Bolan doesn’t impress me that much all things considered, but I recognize his talent is real and possibly under-appreciated these days.

I can’t pretend to be cool enough for this kind of music, but this takes some dark and intriguing turns.

Not sure the hipster POV on country music was necessary but this was still decent. Very laid-back vibes.

There are few singing voices uglier and shriekier than Dexter Holland’s. He sounds like a caged animal being periodically pistol whipped with a cattle prod.

This is not bad but I can’t really say I liked it either. There’s a lot of weird albums like this from this era that exist in a void between psychedelic, baroque, and mid-60s boy band pop.

One of the most timeless bands ever. Not their best album, but there’s no bad songs here and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

The best solo Morrissey we’ve gotten. I don’t know if I truly like it, but I acknowledge it’s a decent album with a better variety of tones and instrumentation than his others, and better vocals to boot.

Mannn. I’m down with the message and occasionally with the beats, but it’s a dry repetitive and dated album. He’s not very skilled as a rapper or as a lyricist either. Finding out he’s the say hey how you doing today guy was the shock of the week.

I like the guitars and the simple straight-ahead rock approach. I don’t love the singer’s voice, but I do like her raging energy. A solid one.