Reviews by mkaddour2001

With every Britpop album this list decides to throw at me, I become increasingly convinced that that one 'Elastica' album will be the only one that'll ever resonate with me. 'Cause this is just another in a long list of forgettable '90s Britpop records. I'll say the production is a bit more varied here, a bit funkier and less concerned with being fuzzy and "90s" - I really liked when the organ leads out that tighter groove on 'Only Teething', for example. And certain songs like 'With No Shoes', You're a Big Girl Now', and 'How Can You Leave Us' were actually pretty good. But for every good song, there are like two yawn-inducing ones. Why does this vocal style make everything sound so bland and lifeless? I'll never know...why do the vocals on all these albums sound so alike? I don't know...what is it about samey Britpop melodies that annoy me so much? I don't know. I just don't get it!

This was a much mellower approach by Willie Nelson, at least when compared to his outlaw country, story-driven album 'Red Headed Stranger', an album I really liked. And from what I understand, this album's composed entirely of covers of older pop standards. It was good, I mean Willie Nelson is nothing if not a talented writer and guitar player, and I enjoyed the first three tracks, alongside 'September Song', quite a lot. Honestly wasn't even too familiar with many of the songs covered here, but the selection was well done nevertheless...I'm sure they meant a lot to Nelson himself. But aside from that, everything here felt super boilerplate, very much a late '70s country album. It was still an enjoyable listen at the end of the day.

To me, 'In A Silent Way' was always the more accessible and easy-to-grasp precursor to the balls-out and batshit insane 'Bitches Brew'. Both records are a part of Miles' best era (in my opinion), his fusion era, and both do an excellent job of throwing the listener into these very moody and carefully constructed soundscapes. You feel trapped in their respective bodies, like you've been hypnotized or put under some spell when listening to these albums. Overall, 'In A Silent Way' is much shorter than 'Bitches Brew', and the fusions here, primarily in John McLaughlin's gutiar, are less aggressive, and more welcoming and complementary to the rest of the band. That's only helped by the slew of shimmering keys hovering over the opener 'Shhh/Peaceful' and the groovier bass part of the title track, which establishes one of the catchiest and most earwormy motifs from any Miles Davis record, period. Miles' playing, especially during the harder part of the title track, is some of the most dynamic I've heard from him (which is saying a lot), mainly in the way it increases in fury as the bass goes into that impeccable groove and the drums kick in. There is a lot of passion behind each note, but the same can be said about just about any other player here.

Even with all that aside, though, I think this album's always been a landmark release in "moody" music. I mean it's often considered to contain one of the first instances of "ambient" music - but I'd argue Miles Davis' ambient magnum opus is 'He Loved Him Madly' off of 'Get Up With It'. As soon as you click play on this thing, it becomes apparent that there is this unsettling edge underlying many of these movements. Maybe it's Miles himself looking borderline petrified on this album cover, maybe it's the way the organ goes slightly off-key as a drone increases in volume for a few seconds near the 5-minute mark of the title-track, maybe it's that same drone hovering over the ambient dips bookending the title track, or maybe it's that haunting organ chord that comes out of nowhere on 'Shhh/Peaceful', completely halting the band's momentum, just for them to continue playing like nothing happened. To me, this album feels like a band trying their best to play as straight as possible, all the while there's something genuinely frightening lurking about. That's always been my read on this whole thing, at least, as ignorant as it may be towards Miles' artistic intent. It's not all "dark", though, the opening ambient portion of the title-track with the trumpet, keys, and guitar is heavenly and so damn far ahead-of-its-time that I refuse to believe it was recorded in '69.

This album rules and you know that. 'nough said.

The title track of this album is a staple when it comes to new-wave music, and having finally listened to it all the way through (yes, I'm only really familiar with those first few seconds), I've realized just how incredibly varied the whole song is, and I love how heavy those synths come in during the instrumental interlude. The entire song is so epic, despite the number of times I've heard that chorus. I feel this entire album is very underappreciated; I don't hear much about it. It sounds like a lot of new wave and new romantic albums on the surface, but there is something so slick and almost modern-sounding about the way the whole thing is constructed. It's less in your face and far more subdued and moody, similar to groups like Depeche Mode, but I'd argue even moreso. The songs are slow and careful, establishing these very heavy and hypnotic kick-driven grooves. 'The Walk' may be the best example of this, the way the vocal layers develop alongside that cacophonous sax overlay sounds beyond this genre. I also really liked the slower 'Jennifer', which establishes this very ominous core groove, that's beautifully juxtaposed by those more optimistic keys. Also, that layer of distorted guitars in the outro is mesmerizing. And the warped synths of 'Somebody Told Me' give off heavy EDM vibes, weirdly enough. On top of all that, Annie Lennox is an incredible vocalist in this genre; she's capable of adopting so many different styles. She has this very deep and fluttery delivery on the opener 'Love Is a Stranger', but can just easily flip into something darker on 'Somebody Told Me' or something playful like with the funkier 'This Is The House'.

Some of the coolest and most forward-thinking new romantic I've heard - some of this music can easily be mistaken for a lot of the pop music that would be heard decades down the line.

Love this album, it's the most '70s sounding new-wave album there is. While it does have a lot in common with contemporaries like Talking Heads, I do think this 'The Cars' self-titled holds its own in just being a great collection of pop-rock love songs, with some great, and ahead-of-its-time production. There are slower, and more slick parts here that remind me of guys like Lou Reed (especially 'Don't Cha Stop'), while the more flashy aspects remind me of groups like Queen (like with the closer 'All Mixed Up'). 'My Best Friend's Girl' is irresistibly cute, I love the way the guitar and bass lock in that refrain - might also be the most post-punky thing here. 'Just What I Needed' is as perfect as pop songs in this vein get, and the epic synth outro of 'Moving in Stereo' could've gone on for hours, and I wouldn't care. But easily my favorite track off this album has always been 'All Mixed Up', primarily because of those lush harmonies in the chorus - the layering is incredible.

Short, slick, catchy, and hilariously horny at times - probably one of the easiest album out there to listen to. Superb stuff.

This is the most Radiohead-sounding Radiohead album out there, so I'm surprised it isn't as acclaimed by their fanbase as other records in their discography. For me, it's just okay, a lot of my gripes with Radiohead's music are more apparent here than on many of their other albums, mainly to do with my love-hate relationship with Thom as a crooning vocalist, and the melodramatic and all-over-the-place musical direction their albums tend to go in. This album sort of fuses their more alt-rock side with their '2000s electronic side without really committing to or fleshing out any specific sound. This fusion is most apparent in the explosive opener '2 + 2 = 5', which is easily the best song here, sounds straight out of 'OK Computer'. It also sets the tone nicely for the more politically driven messaging of the rest of the record.

This album sure as hell *feels* like a concept album, but one that wasn't as fleshed out as it could've been. I guess I just don't see the Yoshimi story tying into the over-arching themes of this album; themes that seem to be built upon a search for meaning within one's life. Still enjoyed the lyrics, and the lead vocals were charmingly clunky (for the most part), but I was still really confused about what exactly I got out of this experience by the time the album was finished. Small thing, but some of the titles also felt completely unrelated to the lyrics of some of these songs (from my shallow perspective), which I'm 100% sure was intentional, but can't say I entirely understand why they decided to do it.

The music is solid all around. I've heard some Flaming Lips before, but it's been a while. They sound just as I had remembered them sounding. Very grand, orchestral, and easy to digest psychedelic music in some parts, while mind-bogglingly experimental and industrial in others. I really liked the instrumental song 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt.2' for that exact reason, brain melting stuff, easily the best sounding thing here. It also felt so randomly aggressive at its point in the album, which made me love it even more. The big single off this album, 'Do You Realize??', is maybe the most emotionally potent track, and also plays into the band's pop sensibilities. I also felt the same way about the opener, whose core vocal melody sounds very much like 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens/Yusuf. 'In the Morning of the Magicians' has this gorgeous yet subtle instrumental progression, maybe the best one here.

So yeah, some solid moments here, but idk, it feels like something's missing here that could've rounded out the entire album experience better. If anything, it fees like the album just sort of ends abruptly. Hey maybe it's a metaphor for life or something.

The fact that this album is so beloved by just about anyone who happens upon it makes me so happy, because if there's any album that deserves to have that effect on people, it's this one. A good chunk of the songs here I've listened to obsessively for many, many years. And while I do enjoy the hazy production that feels like a flashback to the most perfect moments in your life, it's never been what kept me so attached to the music here, ultimately. Instead, the production always just felt complementary to the real star here, vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. She is perfect, her melodies and choruses are irresistible, her falsettos, harmonies, vibratos...everything about her vocals is just angelic. I don't even mind the fact that her voice is drenched in reverb; it just works. I love the way her vocals just hover alongside the atmosphere on the opener 'Cherry-coloured Funk' during that earwormy chorus. The vocal melody of 'Fifty-fifty Clown' feels like something so nostalgic - like the very first memory I could've possibly ever had...whatever it may be. It has this comforting, lulling effect that's the epitome of innocence. The title track, aside from being the most easily catchy song here, is the only time I can consistently understand what Elizabeth is saying (at least in the chorus). Because if there's anything that amplifies this album's already very dream-like atmosphere, it's Elizabeth's very difficult-to-grasp speech pattern. It's what English must sound like to someone who doesn't know English pretty much.

While I usually stick to my favorite crop of songs as opposed to revisiting the entire album whenever I want my 'Heaven or Las Vegas' fix, I'm happy I revisited it this time, because I fell in love with two new songs that I had previously neglected for whatever reason. 'I Wear Your Ring' I remember loving, but completely forgot how utterly gorgeous that core vocal melody was. And 'Fotzepolitic' is the other song here that quickly became another favorite, god, it's so fucking good, can't believe I ignored this song for so long.

I know I've sort of neglected the rest of the music here for the vocals, but I do want to emphasize that it's the perfect backdrop to Elizabeth. It's a perfect fusion of many '80s new-wavey and post-punk acts (the songs 'Iceblink Luck' and 'Wolf in the Breast' have instrumentals that sound straight out of The Cure's 'Disintegration'), and your more traditional pop-leaning shoegaze '90s stuff like with 'Cherry-coloured Funk'. And the darker closer gives genuine gothic rock vibes.

Comfort music. This whole thing feels like a warm hug, blanket, and fire in a giant ice cave. Cocteau Twins really made something special with this album. Life can't be so bad when this exists, I mean it.

This is the kind of charming and awkward indie-rock sound that's very easy for me to enjoy. It takes a lot from bands like Modest Mouse and Slint (in fact, a couple of members from Slint are in Sliver Jews), but adds a very nice country flair to it all. The music here is very rundown, depressing, and sort of hopeless in a lot of ways - an effect that's amplified when reading up on the tragic life of David Berman, the lead vocalist here. His monotone, deadpan delivery here is what sells the record, it makes any sort of emotion that manages to come out feel that much more powerful. I'd say that attitude comes to a head on the closer 'Death of an Heir of Sorrows' with its heart-breaking depiction of loss, a theme dealt with on many songs on this album. I also really like the female vocalist here, who, I believe, was David's wife at the time - she really saves the song 'Tennessee', after David hits you with that cheesy as all hell refrain (still a cute song regardless). Not all the songs here deal with loss directly - 'Time Will Break The World' seems to be taking on much larger subject matter, with this epic and haunting guitar tone driving the whole thing. The not-so-happy story of 'I Remember Me' was engaging, and the instrumental 'Transylvania Blues' may just be the best thing here. The playing on this album in general is very solid.

Still think this is a very difficult album to dissect after one listen, but I found its varied approach to the many sounds of the '90s alt-rock scene to be refreshing at the very least, and quite easy to digest.

Very pleasant record, albeit one-note at times, especially in its first half. But never to the point where it turned me off of the record itself. The production is constantly lush and varied, jumping between the baroque and jazz elements I'd expect out of a singer-songwriter record in the early '90s to mostly great results, with my favorite moment being that grand build on 'Season of Hollow Soul'. The vocals also nicely balance these elements of country-rock and vocal-jazz (especially on 'Still Thrives This Love'). I also really enjoyed the writing here, especially on the song 'Outside Myself', which may be the best song here and an emotional powerhouse in the realm of introspective writing. The closer 'Constant Craving' was also one of the more easily enjoyable cuts here, with K.D. delivering this insanely catchy vocal melody. I'll also mention 'Season of Hollow Soul' again, it's a really well-written song.

A lot of talent on display here, especially coming out of K.D Lang herself. Canada represent.

I found this uninteresting and one-note; it seems to be a pattern in a lot of jangle pop from this time. It's solid in the background, but when you try to dive into the lyrics or music here, you're left with something so painfully run-of-the-mill. Songs like 'It's Only Natural', 'Fall At Your Feet', 'Four Seasons in One Day, and 'There Goes God' are fine enough, but I'd say everything else here did nothing for me.

While I do think 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' is the better overall album, Public Enemy's 'Fear of a Black Planet' is ripe with experimentation, lyrical fury, and dizzying production that can easily overwhelm you upon first listen. I mean, I've listened to this album countless times, and I still think that it is a lot at times, but in a mostly good way.

The production here, and the album in general, feels like flicking through various news channels - songs like 'Contact On The World Love Jam' and 'Incident At 66.6 FM' especially play into this aesthetic. And if there's one thing that remains obvious about all these news samples we're flicking through, it's their disdain for Public Enemy, their music, and hip hop in general after their commercial break with 'It Takes A Nation...'. So, what this album ends up providing for the listener is Public Enemy's much-needed responses to the media's baseless, and mostly racist, claims.

But I'll jump to the lyrical side of things in a bit. First, I just want to stress how bat-shit insane the production on this thing is. It's untamed, and a sample warehouse - a Bomb Squad production that is the essence of "Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks", and, miraculously enough, most of it sticks and leaves a permanent mark. The messy guitar sample and that funky bassline driving 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out' feel like a calm before the storm. The vocoded vocals of '911 is a Joke' are my favorite aspect of that particular song, though I also love the group ramblings that just hang in the background; they're absurd. 'Welcome To The Terradome' has too many incredible moments to list off - I mean, the core beat itself has this very industrial feel to it, and it's another example of the Bomb Squad just choosing an insanely bold, short sample loop to encompass their core beats. Some other small moments from this song that I love are the female vocals in the interlude, that one random electric guitar hit at the beginning of the second verse, and Flavor Flav's accent during the interlude. 'Anti Machine' has this insanely hypnotic groove driving a good chunk of the song, it lulls the listener into a false sense of security before hitting them across the head with D's verse in the final minute or so - I love the sound effects paired with his verse here. The whistle of 'Burn Hollywood Burn' alongside those horn hits makes for an explosive refrain, and the organ of the title track gives the entire song a very funky edge. 'War At 33 1/3' is the best beat here in my opinion, I love that wayward synth that drives the beat, it sounds like it's being perpetually tuned. And that screaming at the beginning of D's verse kills me every time. The other obvious highlight here is 'Fight The Power', just an incredible fucking beat - and not as chaotic as everything else here, sounding like something off their previous record. But even then, the sample list for this song tells another story; many smaller details in this beat can easily fly over your head on a first listen.

The lyrical intensity on this album is brought up a ton. These guys are fed up, and any sort of restraint that Chuck D had on their previous album is completely gone (not that there was much there to begin with). It works (mostly) well, with 'Meet The G That Killed Me' being a bit of a blemish on the rest of the album. '911 Is a Joke' actually has Flavor Flav rapping something meaningful, with some genuinely poignant commentary on first responders' apathy toward the black community, with Flav even saying he'd rather call a cab because it would come quicker. 'Burn Hollywood Burn' has PE welcoming some feature verses for once, from the best-of-the-best. Big Daddy Kane's verse here is incredible, just the way he comes in with his deeper caodence on this chunky beat is great. I love this posse cut because it remains focused on the core message of the song, which deals with the pigeonholing of black actors and roles in Hollywood. A few songs here, like 'Pollywanacraka' and the title track, deal with these ideas of race mixing, both providing very unique insights into the world's view on it. And 'Who Stole The Soul?' tackles the idea of persistent dehumanization of the black community at the hands of various government institutions throughout history. Finally, you have 'Fight The Power', one of the greatest musical anthems ever. That Elvis line is still one of my favorites to come out of the band, and I love the way the first part of that bar just repeats to hammer the idea home.

Going into the '90s, Public Enemy still sounded like they were operating on a completely different level than any other artist in hip-hop. Their group felt like an idea, a movement, and larger than music itself. They also just continued to sound really fucking good, everything fits so nicely in the mix despite the messy presentation.

The term "soft rock" is pretty ugly to me (and probably to most people), as it's commonly associated with squeaky clean production and shallow genre fusions. Hear a lot of people shit on Steely Dan for that exact reason, and seeing as this was my first time listening to them, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the whole thing. But while some of the jazzy extended-jam moments did end up feeling like imitations (I was especially not a fan of 'Your Gold Teeth'), I do think this was a perfectly okay pop-rock record. To me, it's not too far off from what guys like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were doing. It's catchy and witty at times, but I'd say the band is at their strongest when they hone in on the better parts of their ideas, like with 'My Old School' as opposed to when they go into these directionless jams that lack improvisation, grit, and soul. The vocals are always smooth, offering up melodies that are earwormy and easy to digest, and you have backing vocals that nicely fill in the rest of the space on certain songs, like in 'Show Biz Kids'.

The whole thing feels like a comfort album, not my comfort album, but a comfort album nevertheless. That's the best way to sum it up.

While not quite prime Gang Starr, it's still a very solid early entry for the duo. DJ Permier's production, at this point, hadn't quite adopted that very shiny and explosive East Coast quality. I'd say he'd find that sound in the mid-'90s (on Illmatic and Gang Starr's finest hour, 'Moment of Truth'). His production here is still very much rooted in that '80s/'90s jazz rap style, though it does hold a bit more variety than other East Coast contemporaries like ATCQ, a bit closer to a group like De La (TBH Guru sounds a lot like Posdnuos). I'll never complain about this style, and it's executed very well here at the end of the day. 'Who's Gonna Take the Weight' has this chunky horn sample and that high-pitched PE-style noise that gives it a distinctly '80s edge. The fat bass driving the song 'Take a Rest' on the other hand, hammers home that gritty New York sound. I think 'As I Read My S-A' sounds the most like modern-day DJ Premier in its sample choices and iconic scratching. The best production here has to be 'Check the Technique', it has this really mystical sounding orchestral sample that's sort of grainy, and distant, yet it perfectly complements and eggs on Guru's no BS bars. Guru himself is such a unique-sounding MC, there's something just off about the way he raps. I'd say his biggest defining quality is his adamant disregard for the bar line, he is constantly crossing that shit. He is a forward-thinking MC in that sense, by not sticking to any sort of rhyme scheme. And he's just such a profound lyricist - just listen to songs like 'Who's Gonna Take the Weight' and the observational 'Just To Get a Rep' and 'Say Your Prayers'. Songs that are perfectly balanced with those battle rap instances, like on the fierce aforementioned 'Check the Technique' (can't stress enough how good that song is)

Really good jazz rap - a little long, and, at times, run-of-the-mill for the duo, but well-executed nevertheless.

I've always appreciated Amy's talents as a songwriter and vocalist, but her music in an album format never really does it for me. If Amy is anything, it's insanely consistent, and after 50 or so minutes, I feel like I've seen everything she has to offer on a particular record. Well, I guess maybe that's par for the course for vocal-jazz dating back to the '50s. And while the more classic, throwbacky moments suit her well here (I really liked the slower 'There Is No Greater Love'), the more contemporary R&B-leaning production on some of these songs doesn't mesh well with her style, in my opinion. That's not the case for every song that goes in this direction, of course - the longer 'You Sent Me Flying/Cherry' has this serene piano-led instrumental that sort of reminds me of something Nujabes would produce. The psychedelic 'What is It About Me' was another late album highlight that sort of goes in a more modern "wa-wa" guitar direction.

Cool artist. But I think this album is just too much of one very well-done sound. It's the type of album that'll take a while to grow on you and for each song to develop its own identity. But as for a first listen, I can't say I enjoyed every moment of this.

I mean, it's Lou Reed. If there was an underground rock frontman from the '60s who had no right getting as popular as they did (be it through late era VU or his solo stuff), it's Lou Reed. The absence of any vocal range, straight-faced delivery, and dry sense of humor with parts lovestruck, bitter, and raunchy lyrical topics never really made for great airplay material. But what can I say, this was a hit record. I guess his swaggy demeanor creates a cool dissonance when put up against the generally standard pop-rock music here, to mostly charming results. And you can argue his sort of awkward off-kilter delivery was a precursor to many like-minded vocalists to come.

I always associated this album with the buzzing of the melodic bass chords of 'Walk on the Wild Side', and that exclusively, but there were some other genuinely great songs here, like the epic 'Perfect Day' and 'Satellite of Love', which, despite having maybe the clunkiest vocals on the entire album, was also the cutest song here.

I was familiar with Johnny Cash's infamous 'At Folsom Prison' live release before this, and thought it was an odd, yet impactful one-off thing. Yet here he was again, playing at another prison, "San Quentin", to another crowd of restless and rowdy prisoners. I went into this live album wondering why Johnny Cash played all these prisons, but I think I got all my answers this time around. I mean, here, Cash goes all in with the crowd work, more than 'At Folsom Prison' - even taking song requests from the audience, and enjoying the constant reactions and roars coming from the prison crowd whenever he mentions a warden, guards, or the establishment they were incarcerated in. Maybe the best part of this whole thing is that Cash clearly "sides" with the prisoners in the audience here and is empathetic toward them; he wasn't just there to use them as a punchline to his witty one-liners. I mean listen to the song "San Quentin" and how it riles the audience up, and then the subsequent "boos" the guards receive when Cash requests a glass of water. He even plays this one very combative song twice (and he promised a third time, but it wasn't on this album :(((). It made me realize just how rebellious Cash was when doing this - I mean, just the way he provokes the crowd while there are guards around, it's so fun to listen to. His other renditions and songs here are just really consistent Cash cuts. I liked the song 'Starkville City Jail', another moment where Cash ties himself to the prisoners he's playing to. Though the best song here is still, ironically enough, 'Folsom Prison Blues', it's just too good a song.

Not your typical album experience, and really not even your typical *live* album experience. But I didn't expect it to be - what I got instead was something genuinely touching, captivating, and a recording that puts you at a very unique place in time. I'll say very few musicians throughout history have had a live album as interesting as this one and "At Folsom Prison" - recordings don't get more "real" than this.

The Zappa I've heard of is on full display on this album. Well, personality-wise at least - musically, he's more renowned for his jazz-fusion stuff, I'd say, which is nowhere to be found here. While at times Zappa may come off as overly bitter toward the meaningless "stand for everything, stand for nothing" attitude of hipster culture at a time as precarious and uncertain as the Vietnam war and MLK's assasination ridden late '60s (especially on the opener 'Who Needs The Peace Corps'), I do think he means well at the end of the day, especially as the album rounds itself out thematically and he starts to point his fingers at the real enemies, the establishments, the cops, the regressiveness of past generations on a song like 'Mom & Dad'. Primarily, songs like 'Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance' and 'What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body (reprise)' show Zappa at his most compassionate and understanding - with these songs tackling the ineffectively superfluous and shallow aspects of a lot of those '60s movements he despised so much.

Musically, it's interesting but very incoherent at times; everything feels like a splice, feels very fake with all these vocal effects, sound clips, and sudden cuts to other musical ideas. It fits the bill for the album, but as an experience, it wasn't something I really enjoyed on the first listen. I guess I more enjoyed the weird, experimental ambient antics of songs like 'The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny' and 'Nasal Retentive Clliope Music' - kind of the esoteric ahead-of-the-curve stuff I expect out of a Zappa record. The more straightforward "pop" cuts come off as parodical (kind of like this album cover), though some were still enjoyable. I really liked the opener 'Who Needs The Peace Corps?' and 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black' as standalone songs.

Cool, important, and an interesting enough first listen, but I don't see myself re-visiting this one again for a while.

I'm not sure if the apathy I have towards a large chunk of Led Zeppelin's discography stems from all the '70s (and beyond) LZ clones, whom I dislike more than LZ themselves. I mean, I've always been very clear that I disliked Robert Plant as a frontman, so by extension, I'd dislike everything he spawned to a greater degree. He's easily one of the least interesting of the big early '60s and late '70s rock vocalists. I just don't like his style, his adlibs, nor the way he pieces together his melodies - they just do not work for me. And the music here, like with LZ 2, lacks a certain punch that I'm always hoping for out of these records, a punch that would be absolutely necessary to make Plant's vocals work, imo.

Some interesting and genuinely solid moments still. 'Friends' went in a sort of eastern direction instrumentally, which made it stick out in the mix. And I think 'Since I've Been Loving You' is one of the band's best songs, with that soaring guitar and the drama behind the whole thing. It works really well as an LZ "long song". 'Tangerine' is nothing more than your average LZ slowballad, though I enjoyed how out of character it felt for the band at times. It almost reminded me of a slower track off of The Rolling Stones 'Sticky'. And I certainly enjoyed it more than the following slower acousitic cut, 'That's the Way' (though I did enjoy that guitar tone hanging in the background of this one). I enjoyed the blusier tracks on this album more than I usually do from Led Zepplin, especially the off-kilter closer 'Hats off to (Roy) Harper'

Not bad by any means, but just another record in this band's catalogue that reaffirms my very lukewarm feelings towards them. And that's fine.

An album with some genuinely incredible production that's occasionally bogged down by a fusion of two vocal styles that I really don't care for. Not every song falls under these (The songs 'The Man Who Told Everything', 'A House', and 'The Cedar Room' had genuinely solid lead vocal melodies and were maybe the best songs here). But many other songs have these very flat, reverb-drenched wailing vocals that make them a slog to get through when they go on for too long. Mainly the songs in the middle, like 'Rise', 'Lost Souls', and 'Melody Calls' I had issues with.

Let's talk more about what I liked here, though. I mean, in essence, I'm getting a well-executed fusion of trip-hop, dream-pop, and shoegaze. And it works marvelously when these strings swoop in like on the opener 'Firesuite', an instrumental cut, or the climax of the aforementioned 'The Man Who Told Everything'. I loved that subtly twangy guitar tone on the 'The Cedar Room', peak distorted, fuzzy dream-pop shit. And despite this song's very forward Britpop identity, a genre and sound I don't really care for, it was maybe my favorite song here. And despite its 7-minute run time, I think the track manages to make most, if not all, of those minutes interesting, enjoyable, and vital to the song's structure. The arpeggiated groove with those piano embellishments on 'Sea Song' was another one of those utterly gorgeous moments. I also really liked the baroque-fused instrumental interlude 'Reprise', a song that brings back those pianos and strings that I loved so much on some of the other songs.

I'm leaning towards loving this album - the entire thing just sounds so cozy and exquisite. The vocal moments that I didn't like as much don't outweigh all the other larger-than-life-sounding moments on this album. This was life-affirming shit at its best, but sleep-inducing at its worst.