Reviews by mkaddour2001

While I do admire how experimental and different this was, especially for the time, I can't say I was engaged with a ton of it. It roped me in well enough with the opener, with that very synthetic, ballad take on a prog song. It's a serene opener that sort of captures the feeling of this album cover, super whimsical, and free-going on some faraway beach. The first few songs follow suit; 'A Last Straw' has this very short yet enchanting piano loop driving the whole thing. But by the time it gets to the second half, its tangential and directionless nature starts to show. There's some proto-ambient stuff here that was cool, specifically on the weird organ on 'Alifib', but as soon as they threw in this sort of out-of-place sax section on the song's "free jazzy" counterpart 'Alife', I felt that all immersion was just lost. Didn't work for me at all for some reason.

I'll say again that I do admire the very tight concept and very linear and consistent progression this album undergoes; it sort of nails this feeling of spiraling out of control and into pure abstraction. But by the end, I felt like I couldn't get lost in a lot of what was being presented, especially in the second half.

Decent little jammy record, though not much stood out in this one. I liked the more tender moments here, like the entirety of the song 'Love Lives Here', which has this '70s Chicago style feel to it, which was pretty refreshing and well-executed. The other softer song, 'Debris,' has this super familiar lead vocal melody and leans into a more country-rock vibe more than anything. I find this album has the variety of a typical Rolling Stones album. Maybe the highlight was the last 2 minutes of the song 'Memphis', which is maybe the only time I really hear the "Boogie Rock" in this supposedly Boogie Rock album, specifically in the piano, but the whole piece itself is super groovy.

Not much else stood out here. I found this was just a band that blends into the mix with many other bands in their lane. Still well-executed enough and a solid listen.

Pretty good and a very stripped-back type of listen. The music isn't so much concerned with building up layers and density, but rather it builds these shimmering, drifting lines that just trail along in the background. You still get some incredibly solid riffs and motifs, my absolute favorite being on 'Maacina Tooro', but I found I got locked to the subtle movements of the instruments as opposed to any actual repeating groove. Maybe the densest thing here is 'Sehilam', which actually establishes this very hypnotic groove with the percussion and introduces something of a vocal hook, even.

Musically, I can see how a lot of psychadelic music in the west might've drawn from this; it reminds me a lot of eastern music in general, but also has a lot of parallels to Songhoy blues, which only makes sense.

I guess the best way to describe this is pleasant, just a really good and mellow time.

Don't know if this was intentional or not (but I feel like it SOMEHOW was because what are the odds?), but I got this album on Christmas morning. So I should've really loved this more, considering the magic of it all, but it was just fine. The Phil Spector wall of sound and gorgeous girl-group harmonies are in full effect here; it sounds great, all things considered. But I'm just not sure how I feel about listening to these Christmas standards that I've been hearing all my life, from shopping malls to primary school recitals, over again. I've never been a Christmas guy, never celebrated myself, but I can always get behind the spirit of it all. Y'know, walking around a Christmas town in the snow with all the lights and all that and hearing this kind of music. But sitting in my room by myself and listening to this doesn't work and was clearly not how these songs were intended to be heard, admittedly. But that was the environment I heard all the other albums here in, so why make an exception for this one?

Either way, the talent on display in this compilation is nothing to scoff at; it's a pleasant listen if you ignore the very tacky nature of it all. The songs I didn't really know of, like 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa' by the Ronettes and especially 'Christmas' by Darliene Love, I actually really loved, just incredible '60s pop music in this grand, yet grainy style that I generally adore. And even the Ronettes cover of 'Frosty the Snowman' worked for me. But yeah, call me a killer of whimsy, or Grinch, or whatever, but the idea of this album isn't really something I can get behind. And I did NOT need to hear Phil's dumbass voice at the end there, no one likes this guy!!!

Pretty good album from Ice Cube, though not as good as some of his earlier stuff for me. I feel like on this album in particular, he leans into his influences a lot more than usual. At times, it feels like the bombastic and ridiculousness of the Geto Boys fused with the political agency and anger of Public Enemy (purposefully, might I add, Ice Cube references both many times on this album, in his lyrics and samples). The first song, 'When Will They Shoot?', is maybe the most Public Enemy thing here, and many of the interview/TV broadcast snippets and interludes remind me a lot of Fear of a Black Planet. This opener 'When Will They Shoot?' is incredible, though, without a doubt, my favorite song on the album, with such a heavy and clunky beat that works incredibly with Ice Cube's very confrontational style. The 'Wicked' beat is also very clearly PE-inspired, but I do want to say that Ice Cube still manages to put his classic Ice Cube and West Coast twist on many of the songs here. 'Check Yo Self,' particularly, but also his more aggressive style of political commentary, is on full display on the last two (full) songs, 'Who Got The Camera?' and 'Say Hi To The Bad Guy', two great songs that I'm sure pissed off so many people back in the day. Ice Cube really has this IDGAF attitude on here, which is entertaining and sort of refreshing, all things considered. The non-political songs here are pretty good; the obvious highlight is the very West Coast-sounding standard 'It Was A Good Day', which is about as iconic as songs in this caliber get. Such a great song and beat.

Pretty good stuff, again, not as iconic and well put together as his last few albums, but good enough and a solid pivot into the newer mid-90s hip hop sounds for the MC.

Feel bad putting off listening to this album for so long, since I actually really like Christine & The Queens and their most recent triple album baroque/art-pop opus especially. This was just super long, and the songs are pretty much mirrored across both discs, just in different languages. I found it daunting, but still fine since I invested most of my attention in the French part, which I enjoyed more, and let the English part hang in the background.

This album is far less experimental than that more recent offering and is pretty straightforward when it comes to pop in general. Just back-to-back bops, spanning different languages and lyrical themes. '5 dols' and especially 'Doesn't Matter' are absolute hits here.

Unfortunately, it is far less interesting than I was hoping, and pretty repetitive all things considered. But still a good time, and I'd honestly recommend just listening to the French part of this album.

One of the Björk albums I haven't heard before, but it's pretty in line with what I expect out of her music, though notably it's less experimental, electronic-driven, and left-field. Instead, it opts for these lush and slowly shifting string sections (say, for maybe the jagged and nightmarish ones on 'Family', maybe the most abrasive track here). There's something super hypnotic here that won me over, just the way these long songs slowly move and evolve over their durations, with the opening 'Stonemilker' captivating me almost immediately. The uber-long 'Black Lake', I felt similarly about with it, alongside 'Mouth Mantra', leaning into those more familiar electronic sounds a bit more than the other songs here. 'Mouth Mantra' and 'Quicksand' had maybe the best drum machine work on the album, straight out of the '90s IDM scene, which Björk grew up adjacent to.

On first listen, I do think it was a bit too long for its own good. The sound did start to feel confined and limited, especially by Björk's standards, near the final quarter. But still pretty good and certainly a grower.

Ah, Meat Loaf...a name I've heard plenty, but I've never put the voice and music to it. He reminds me of a lot of adjacent American artists, guys like Springsteen, Elton John, and Steely Dan. But this is, without a doubt, more operatic. It makes quite the first impression as well, with the opening title track that feels like it was never going to end, but in the best way possible. Just constantly building while never being too much, it's easily the best song here. The whole album was pretty damn good, though; it really commits to the over-the-top theatrical feel setup on that opener, with subtle transitions, dramatic switch-ups, and so many vocal and instrumental layers. 'All Revved Up With No Place to Go' was a pretty great little outsider ballad, and I really loved the guest vocals on 'Paradise By the Dashboard Light', in the first part, but mainly in that funkier and quite abrupt switch-up - she absolutely kills it. The boy-girl back-and-forth on this song, while cliché, is pulled off flawlessly, given how talented and expressive both the leads are. I love the rapid-fire piano line on this song, particularly. The closer, 'For Crying Out Loud' was the sentimental outro this album needed. A spotlight on Meat Loaf's talents under these shimmering strings.

This style of music isn't really my thing, so the fact that this clicked as much as it did should say a lot.

Pleasant surprise to see this album here. I mean, if you wanted a single album that encapsulated the vibey, slow, sentimental R&B sounds of the early and mid-2010s, it would be this one (I'd say even moreso than Frank's follow-up, Blonde). Frank Ocean's vocals are the standout on this album, ultimately, above all the trippy, low-key, and evocative production. I'd say that's clear right off the bat on 'Thinking Bout You' where he perfectly balances his falsetto high with his deep and sort of raw vocal delivery. And I call it raw because there's just something about Frank's vocals when he's in his lower register that sounds so down-to-earth, human, and flawed. The production is still solid, though, especially on maybe my favorite song here, 'Pyramids', which has to be one of the most epic-sounding R&B songs ever. A 10-minute track filled with heartbreak, confusion, and haziness - its scale rivaled only by a song like 'House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls' by the Weeknd. The song is soundtracked by a heavy dance beat, analog synths, and gorgeous arpeggios that really allow it to thrive in the tracklisting here. I also really love 'Lost' - it's just the catchiest thing here. It's a feel-good song, but there's something about the melodies, lyrics, and imagery that is so filled with yearning and sadness. And shout out to the rap features here, 'Super Rich Kids' has fellow Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt doing his thing. His and Frank's styles mesh oddly well; I'd say it's something about the feelings of unfulfillment underlying the song. And I can't NOT love 'Pink Matter' with 3K doing his thing as he usually does. I think I love his guest verse on Blonde just a little bit more, but this song also has this sick, dirty guitar solo...so not really sure which song's better at the end of the day.

Really good, iconic stuff, though I'd say it's definitely trapped in the decade it was released (not a bad thing at all, makes it super nostalgic for me personally). Too bad he'll never drop again :(

Some genuinely good moments here, but I find that most of the album's inherent charm and wit is eclipsed by its messiness and generic production. Still, the highlights are there. I, for one, loved how ridiculous the song 'Gang Bang' was, and honestly was one of the better sounding songs here, just super funky and, unfortunately, had a super catchy chorus. And the lyrics are, well, the lyrics. The title track was easily the best song here; it's this theatrical, explosive story that seems to follow the extreme frustrations of some misunderstood protagonists. The song kind of has a proggy feel to it, and it has easily the best vocal performance here. I also really loved the final 2 minutes or so of the closer 'The Last Of The Teenage Idols', which does this '60s sugar pop kind of thing that works oddly well in the mix here.

So some pretty neat moments here, and there's a lot of personality to go around, but I don't think I got too much out of this on first listen. Not really my thing.

I haven't really heard Franky's music in extended sessions like this, but this was pretty pleasant - about as pleasant as I was expecting. Gorgeous sweeping string sections over breathy drumming and Frank's iconic vocal crooning...what's not to love. A lot more bossa nova than I was expecting, but I assume that was the intentional direction of this one particular album. It suits Franky's voice, so not much in terms of complaints there.

Sounded about as good as I'd hoped, and it's the perfect kind of background and mood music. Really takes you to a place in time, I'd say. My favorite song was the very light and delicate 'Once I Loved'

Ahead of its time, groovy, oddly catchy - and totally up my alley. It adds a level of slickness to punk that I just don't think was super prominent at the time of its release - I'd say songs like 'Street Waves', 'Haunt Me', and 'Non-Alignment Pact' are the perfect examples of that. In the bass specifically here, it's super melodic and reminds me a lot of the style guys like Mike Watt would go on to adopt later on in their music (I hear a lot of Minutemen in this album in general). The song structures are twisted and unpredictable, often bursting into these experimental non-sequiturs, most egregiously on 'Laughing', which has this absolutely piercing, shrill saxophone (or oboe?) going bananas for a solid chunk of the song. It makes a grand return on 'Life Stinks' where it's also coupled with this weird, trippy bubbling noise in the right channel. 'Sentimental Journey' is all over the place, like a free jazz, post-rock monster that just trudges along over David's light, nonsensical whispers. It's the most batshit insane thing here.

I want to say the song 'Chinese Radiation' is the most ahead of its time here, sounding straight out of a '90s alternative rock song in its first half at least. 'Over My Head' I feel similarly about, and it's maybe the most Talking Heads-sounding thing here...though a bit more psych.

It's a challenging record for sure, but discovering great music like this is why I keep going with this list. An absolute all-timer record that I'll have on repeat for the foreseeable future. Very few gripes here.

Despite being relentlessly '90s, I enjoyed this quite a bit as a definitely non-nineties kid. It was pretty pleasant all the way through, and a lot of the moments here reminded me of the group R.E.M. - jumping between loud and fuzzy, to warm and acoustic driven, with some pretty high highs. The opener for one was an incredible track, with these heavy keys and a delay-drenched guitar solo. The title track 'Fuzzy' is ironically one of the cleanest and stripped-back things here, and there's something about this vocal melody that just feels super familiar, probably similar to some other song I know. The falsetto and deeper contrast taken on by the vocalist here is great, super earwormy chorus. I also really liked the song 'America Snoring,' mainly because of that explosive chorus, but also because it's such an poigngiant political commentary, especially the line "They want to legislate the moon".

This style is usually not my thing, but there's just something about the grandness and vastness of what's explored here instrumentally and vocally that made this particular album stick. It's really ahead of its time in many ways and not just another sleepy '90s alt record.

Decent early new-wave, parts of it even reminded me of the band Wire, especially in the vocals and sort of bizarre fusions and odd British wittiness that sometimes eluded me. It's a clearly very intentionally cheeky album, given the title of the album and many of the songs here (namely 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll', which, ironically, was one of the more tolerable tracks here). I did find the concepts of some of these songs pretty ridiculous, especially 'If I was with a Woman' and 'Billericay Dickie', which was just a fun song to listen to. But the songs themselves didn't do much for me at all; none really stick out, and the album itself was way too all over the place for my liking (probably at least partially the point). And the over-the-top and edgy character played on many of the songs got kind of annoying near the end, especially on the song 'Plaistow Patricia'.

There are some decent moments; I actually really enjoyed the harder, Clash-style punk of 'Blockheads.' But not much else here appealed to me, definitely not a record for me. This really feels like super niche music for a super specific point in time.

Don't ask me why, but this particular Portishead album took way longer to click than their other two. Well, I guess I should try to explain why. To me, it feels more scattered, experimental, rough, and rigid when compared to the '90s albums. It's maybe the least consistent as well, and their most challenging listen, given it's their most nuanced and detailed album yet, and not as sample-oriented as say 'Dummy'. I'm usually fine with albums like that, but I don't know, something about this one always threw me for a loop.

Either way, though, I find that this album grows on me with every subsequent listen, and this one was no different. The songs that I've always adored, like 'Magic Doors' and especially 'The Rip', were just as great this time around, but many of the other one-off moments here resonated with me even more this time. For example, it's never registered how relentlessly dark and gothic 'We Carry On' is, in a sort of industrial way, and I've never heard Gibbons sound so distraught and tense in her vocal delivery. Also, shoutout to that incredible outro, one of the best on the album. And there are A LOT of great outros here, I'd say they're the highlights of this album. Like with 'Machine Gun', which never ceases to amaze me with how grainy and overdriven those drums sound against this glorious detuned analog synth line. The outro on 'Small' is another incredible outro, bringing out this post-rocky, delayed, and overdriven guitar tone that I just love so much. This entire song's progression is mind-blowing as well, just building up to that one cathartic moment.

'Deep Water', for as out of character as it is, seems intentionally placed to break the tension at one of the most precarious moments in the album. I've mentioned 'Magic Doors' already, but it's lyrically one of the most bleak songs here, which is saying a lot. There's so much defeat in Gibbons' words and melody, a sadness only rivaled by a song like 'Roads'.

I don't think I fully understand this album *yet*. It lacks an identity, and I'd even say it lacks a direction for me at least. But there are far too many incredible moments here for that to even begin to hinder my enjoyment of it. I'd say this time around, this album really clicked. Really Really clicked...

Some solid oldy outlaw country, this particular remastered mix I listened to was actually pretty crisp-sounding for a '67 album. I'd say in general, the self-pity and loathing aspect of this record is clearer than usual, there's just so much sadness, regret, and hopelessness poured into so many of these songs - you can't help but feel bad for this random poor guy as he drinks his sorrows, and life, away. 'Life In Prison' particularly struck me as remarkably dark, even for this genre, a song about a man who is genuinely at the end of his line. Musically, the more upbeat 'If You Want To Be My Woman' and 'Skid Row', while not too thematically fitting, were a nice change of pace from the very mopey mood of this thing; going in this barroom rockabilly direction. They're not exactly happy songs, though, just catchy, especially the latter, which seems to build on the protagonist's rock bottom-ness as he stands outside, homeless and filled with regret.

Pretty cool, nothing new or unique for this genre, and I wouldn't be able to pick it out from a group of other albums in the genre, but it was still a pleasant listen and not too long.

I only knew of this band because of their direct association with one of my favorite bands back in the day, LCD Soundsystem, specifically through member Al Doyle. But I don't think there's a point in comparing the two, even though they have a lot in common, especially on the production end, though Hot Chip is notably less eclectic.

This was a great synthpop album - super catchy, groovy, and nice and warm on the ears, all while still managing to throw in a cool synth patch here and there to shake these mostly standard arpeggios and sequenced lines up. The slower guitar jam 'Look At Where We Are' also worked remarkably well in the sequence here and was a much-needed breather. But, generally, I never got tired of the sound palette used on most of these songs; at worst, they sound like your generic early '2010s pop bangers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for me. The song 'Night And Day' may be the worst offender of this in sounding pretty dated, but these moments were few and far between.

Songs like 'Motion Sickness', 'Ends Of The Earth', and 'Flute' are great takeaways and songs I'll be listening to for the foreseeable future. Good stuff here.

Some incredible hardcode pretty early into the genre's conception. There's an intensity here that still manages to remain composed and melodic throughout, be it in the riffs or the little vocal lines (loosely) traced by Darby. It's not as fast as many of the acts to come, per se, but there is something truly sinister about the lyricism, riffs, and mixing here. I'd say that's most obvious early on in 'Land of Treason,' - a song that feels almost apocalyptic in its commentary, and I love the little interludes with those faded guitar hits.

'Lexicon Devil' was maybe the most catchy and '70s punk rock-sounding song here; this riff wouldn't sound out of place on a Ramones record. The following 'Manimal' has my favorite intro on the whole album, easily, with this very sludgey progression before absolutely firing off. It's also a great showcase of how incredible the bass playing is throughout this thing; it's super tight and makes itself apparent at all the right moments. I even enjoyed the very noisy and sort of jammy closer 'Shut Down', the noisy feedback guitar just going off in the background felt remarkably ahead of its time.

A pretty damn great hardcore album, one that's as addicting as it is horrendous. Some of the absolute dirtiest that the genre has to offer.

I mean, one of the absolute greatest, right? Like is there any other song out there that captures the feeling of a warm, comforting hug more than the all-timer opening title-track? I can't count the number of times that this one song has gotten me through the absolute worst moments in my life. Garfunkel absolutely does this song justice, pushing his vocals to the absolute limits and elevating the song to galactic heights in that final go of the chorus with those strings.

So many other incredible moments here, too many to list off. I own a Greatest Hits record by these guys, actually, it's the only record I own of theirs, but this might as well be their greatest hits record. So many good songs. The absolutely whimsical 'El Condor Pasa' paints this image of a young Victorian-era peasant child ruminating on his role in society by a small pond. And for as overplayed as it is, 'Cecilia' still works tremendously well as the upbeat switch-up here, ala 'Mrs. Robinson'. 'Keep the Customer Satisfied' is like aggressively good - just that sticky melodic vocal line, the intense horn build, and the slew of quotables ("I hear words I've never heard in the Bible" always gets a chuckle out of me). If you ever wanted a quick 2 and a half minute dopamine boost, this song is there for you. I'd equate it to junk food if I weren't certain that it's good for me. 'The Boxer' is up there with the title track for me, really capturing that feeling of a poor little boy in a large snowy New York yearning for something more, in this case to become a Boxer. Trying to conquer a world towering over him one step at a time. And, no idea what it means, but 'Lie-la-lie' is an impeccable way to interlude the verses - acting like these transitions between the various moments of the protagonist's life. This song makes me feel things I can't even begin to put into words. 'Baby Driver' is a weird Beach Boys styled pop-song that's honestly kind of ridiculous in every possible way, but, hey, it still *somehow* manages to work for me.

Don't really want to ramble on about each song in this review, especially not for this album, because if you've heard this thing, you already know how good it is. I'd say it's almost too good if there was such a thing.

A name I've heard before, but I wasn't actually familiar with Janis' music at all before this. It's your pretty standard hard and blues rock from this time in a lot of ways, not unlike groups like LZ or the Stones, but Janis is clearly also very inspired by the Soul (and a bit of funk) music of the time. She's certainly got more vocal chops than a lot of her contemporaries, 'Cry Baby' being an early and very soulful display of that. 'Me and Bobby McGee' is the sort of country blues song you'd expect out of your usual Stones album, for example, but I can't express enough how much Janis' vocals add to this otherwise pretty run-of-the-mill blues jam, especially in that final minute or so as the song reaches its climax. 'Trust Me' was maybe my favorite song here, just a super well-rounded track that really draws from the very best of '60s soul. I especially hear a lot of Aretha Franklin in this one. I also felt similarly about the closer 'Get It While You Can' which had an absolutely killer guitar solo.

So yeah - this was pretty good, again Janis Joplin's music sits in a very interesting fusion area between some of the most iconic '60s and early '70s genres, Soul and Blues Rock. And she does a pretty solid job balancing them here I'd say.