Reviews by mkaddour2001

Another just really solid entry from Neil Young. Contrary to what I thought initially, the more standard heavy country-rock instrumentation provided by "Crazy Horse" works oddly well with Young's more introspective folksy style. Songs like the opener and 'Powderfinger' are prime showcases of that; it never feels like they're drowning out his boyish vocals. Instead, they just add another layer of melancholy to the whole thing; the playing is just so sharp and electric, and has this almost heavy '90s alternative feel to it well before the fact, especially on 'Welfare Mothers' and 'Sedan Delivery'. It feels like the album gets gnarlier and heavier as it goes along, with the closer 'Hey Hey My My' feeling almost clanging and industrial. Think there are heavy themes on this album relating to the changing images and shape of the rock music that Neil Young grew up with (especially in the incredible bookend tracks and the way they mirror one another sonically), so this direction only makes sense. These more in-your-face instrumentals bring out a new side of Young that I quite enjoyed here.

Still though, my favorite song here was closer to a traditional Neil Young song with the acoustic guitar and harmonica of 'Thrasher'. Just such a beautiful classic-styled singer-songwriter track that, again, tackles those themes of shifting tides in Young's musical career. It's a bittersweet track that's told through the lens of a man struggling to grow in a strange new world.

Yeah, pretty great Neil Young record yet again; the guy can't seem to miss no matter how far he strays from his traditional style.

I mean, at this point in hip-hop history, we were one year away from groundbreaking groups like Eric B & Rakim, NWA, and Public Enemy, groups that pushed the sounds of hip-hop to a whole new level. So my tolerance for these clunky and dry beats at this point isn't super high. But still, I'll consider this more of a cutoff point for this more dated style than anything else, especially for a group as influential and important to the core of hip-hop as Run-D.M.C. Though, funnily enough, I enjoyed their self-titled debut much more than this one. Admittedly, the rapping here was much better, especially on 'Peter Piper', 'You Be Illin', and the title track. And for as much as I dislike the original song, the 'Walk This Way' version of the Aerosmith song on this album is essential golden-age hip-hop listening. "Proud to Be Black' was also a pretty great closer, and maybe the most impactful thing here lyrically, especially after the awful 'Dumb Girl'.

Maybe my biggest gripe here, though, is the pretty dry production that doesn't do enough. The record could've benefitted from some more interesting sampling, and fewer antiquated drum-machine breaks.
But the band even shouts this out on one of the songs as purposeful, so who am I to complain?

Ultimately it's a record of its time, and I can't hate it for that, especially when we're talking about Run-D.M.C

Pretty cute, and very much in the same vein as a lot of Tom Tom Club's father band, Talking Heads' '80s new-wave music ('Speaking in Tongues' especially), though maybe a bit simpler and synth-centric, with some early hip-hop influence clearly woven in there, especially in the opener 'Wordy Rappinghood'.

'Genius of Love' is the iconic hit of this album, just such an undeniable synth hook here. And I love how the song gyrates - just super smooth, tight and groovy. Everything following the first two opening tracks, though, isn't as engaging or memorable. Not bad by any means, and pretty visionary at times with the synth work (especially the closer), but they feel like extended drafts of ideas that could've used some more fleshing out. 'On On...' for example was a pretty funky cut with some good vocals, but it could've benefited from a more dynamic song structure. Still, a decent record.

One of the most amazing records of my personal lifetime. Been listening to this ambitious art-pop concept album for years now, and it just keeps delivering; each listen is as magical as the last. I usually hate doing this, but I think the best way to describe (or pitch) this album is the soulfulness of an album like 'Songs in the Key of Life' paired with the fast-paced southern funkiness and eccentricities of an album like 'Stankonia', fused with the futurism and sci-fi elements of a 'Deltron 3030'. And it's as good as all those absolute classic albums as well.

The first disc of this thing has the really incredible standalone songs of the album; there are some serious all-timers here. Just incredible, fast-paced, pop and RnB songs kicking this thing off, with Monae's rapid-fire deliveries of the opener 'Dance Or Die' and the much more soulful, but equally energetic 'Faster'. 'Locked Inside' is that Stevie Wonder homage I mentioned before, but it's done tastefully, and the song really brings this concept album's actual concept to the forefront. The chorus on this one is also an undeniable earworm. And the bangers just keep coming, many of which are simultaneously great takes on '2000s era pop and also insanely predictive of a lot of 2010s art-pop trends, like with the blood-pumping synth-pop rocker that is 'Cold War', or the endlessly slick and iconic ode to Monae's southern roots 'Tightrope', featuring an ice-cold verse from Big Boi himself. And "Oh Maker' might be my favorite song on the entire album, just such a warm and introspective ballad in the tracklisting after such a chaotic start; it feels like somehow finding a little grassy clearing in a large and never-sleeping metropolis. And then 'Come Alive' I also really love, maybe the best showcase of Monae's vocal range. It's a sudden left-turn in the tracklisting for sure, but it goes over pretty well still, and the noisy guitar solo paired with these warm, choir interludes allow it to stand out here.

The second disc here is certainly far slower and more meandering, like floating through a large, twisted woods, far from the noise of the metropolis of the first side. It's more psychedelic, orchestral, and comforting, and it's exactly what this album needed for a second disc. 'Neon Valley Street' is just so heartwarming, such a delicate vocal performance over this grainy shifting synth pattern. 'Wonderland' is this oddly catchy psych-pop song; all the weird vocal effects work pretty well in painting a very trippy, Disney Movie-esque atmosphere. And I actually really like the off-kilter and sort of all-over-the-place 'Make The Bus'; despite its relentlessly '2000s indietronica feel, it's a vibe with a killer chorus. '57821' is another ethereal cut here, and continues to showcase this album's knack for exploring every possible music style under the sun - a gorgeous harmony-filled guitar ballad that's about as lush as it gets. 'Say You'll Go' is yet another incredible ballad here, and the album sends itself off perfectly with the ginormous horns and orchestra of 'BaBopByeYa', a theatrical and dramatic closer.

I don't say it lightly when I call this one of the greatest pop albums ever. It's such a great fusion of styles, and an excellent showcase of Monae's very dynamic vocal and musical range. Not sure how influential this album really is, but the entire sound of 2010's and even 2020s pop was in some way touched, and in a lot of cases, perfected on this album, well before the fact. Love this thing to death.

Pretty great early Bowie, and from what I can tell, his first really good album. It still suffers from the over-theatrical and messy presentation of an album like 'Aladdin Sane'. But the actual batch of songs this time around is much stronger.

The opener 'Changes' is one of his best songs, period. That chorus is both catchy and utterly baffling in just how weird and jittery it can feel. It's one of those songs that feels so subtly off, and I love it for that. 'Oh! You Pretty Things' is pretty funny because it takes about half the song for the real chorus to kick in - but I do really like the spacious piano playing on this one, and the album in general. 'Life On Mars?' is one of Bowie's most celebrated and iconic tracks, and for good reason: it's a dynamic, explosive rock opera with giant, sweeping strings and matching colourful, abstract imagery. Definitely not one of my personal favorites, but I can see why people would love it.

'Quicksand' feels more stripped back and organized when compared to everything else here, with just a nice and natural acoustic feel to the whole thing. There's something very uplifting about the string melody on this one, which is a stark contrast to these very pessimistic lyrics. 'Andy Warhol' also has a super tight, punchy acoustic guitar lead. I guess the song itself was supposed to capture Bowie's admiration for Warhol, but the whole thing feels like a backhanded compliment if anything. 'Queen Bitch' is pretty neat; it has an almost punk rock feel to it, and the vocal delivery is nothing short of Lou Reed worship. And 'The Bewlay Brothers' is a pretty fantastic closer. Just these lush and heavy, yet mysterious acoustic guitar chords, and what sounds like a high-pitched reversed guitar sample. I just really love the atmosphere of this song; it feels like a one-man trek through a vast, empty desert.

Some pretty incredible moments here, and some not so incredible ones. Definitely, I'll always prefer the post-Eno Bowie albums to some of his earlier ones; they feel more focused. But still really enjoyed this one.

The Fall is one of those bands that I haven't had the energy to fully and attentively check out yet. Something about the very dense spoken-word pieces of the infamous Mark E Smith has always felt daunting. I don't mind deeply abstract art-punk; I really enjoy the bands Wire and Minutemen for nearly that exact reason, but this album, and the Fall in general, has this super dry British feel to it that falls flat for me. And especially with the bland mix on this album, I found nothing really popped out.

I did listen to this album a long time ago and had sort of mixed feelings on it. And I still do. I think the cutesey synth loop and sort of uncanny feeling of the opener 'Frightened' is where this album peaks. The rest is solid art-punk, but it's missing the personality and umph to make it anything truly special. Instrumentally, the basslines were the draw here, especially on 'Rebellious Jukebox' and 'Industrial Estate'. And the kooky and very dry synths were generally a nice addition; it's maybe this album's most distinguishing attribute. It adds some sarcastic colour to this album, especially on a song like 'Two Steps Back', which was pretty neat and jammy for the most part.

I don't hate it; in fact, I can almost say I liked it, but I'd be lying if I said that Mark E. Smith's unpredictable vocals over these lifeless mixes didn't become grating far sooner than I would've hoped. A difficult album for sure, but I'm sure that's the draw.

For a band that I haven't really listened to before, I sure as hell had a lot of preconceived feelings about their music, seeing as I disliked a lot of adjacent bands. And yeah, this album just left a sort of bland taste in my mouth.
It's not atrocious, but it throws every unlikable 70s hard-rock cliché at you, especially the vocals; god, I can't stand the vocals here. I know Steven Tyler is labeled as somewhat of a legend in this genre, but he just didn't do much for me at all and is by far and away the worst part about this band. It's like he's purposefully trying to pick the worst possible note to sing every single time, and tries to compensate with his flat and empty high-pitched screeches. 'Home Tonight' might be the exception to this; he actually delivers a pretty heartfelt vocal performance on this one that borders on soulful.

The guitar playing, riffs, and song structures, especially when the band is jamming out the outros, like on the ends of 'Rats In The Cellar', 'Combination', or "Nobody's Fault', weren't bad at all; in fact, they were pretty great. But that's all this album had for me in the end, small moments and neat bluesy and hard-rock riffs. Heard that a million times at this point. I don't really see myself revisiting any of the songs here in full.

I mean, just the greatest thing of all time, isn't it? A monster of an Rnß album by one of the best voices in the genre, that I don't listen to nearly as often as I should. It's just so dense, so masterfully executed, and so deserved of its double-album length. An album that blends all the most joyful and gloomy aspects of Wonder's life seamlessly into one of music's grandest displays of sincerity and down-to-earth emotion - both lyrically and musically. I don't even know how to start with this album, or how to talk about the songs here; there are just so many incredible moments.

'Love's In Need Of Love Today' is the perfect way to start a giant album like this - warm harmonies, the riffing in the lead vocals, the subtleties in the playing here, and the way the strings are mixed so low in the background that you might audibly miss them, but still sense their presence. It's a song that moves very slowly, but also manages to not feel like a 7-minute opener, despite its singular nature. A perfect mission statement for the rest of the album. In contrast to the opener, the strings in 'Village of Ghetto Land' are so in your face and melodic, painting a very majestic scene, something royal and rich, which brilliantly contrasts the actual lyrics here because Wonder isn't describing something elegant, but something sad, run-down, and in need of desperate change. 'Sir Duke' is a masterpiece, one of the very first songs I learned on bass because I just had to nail that bass and trumpet breakdown (I never really did, but I got damn close!). A super catchy and feel-good tune about Wonder's appreciation for music and its impact on him and his surroundings. And goddamn, those horns are iconic - the earliest of many peaks on this album. 'I Wish' is one of this album's many obvious forays into funk with the tight syncopation in the percussion and a bassline that just won't quit. And while I don't have too much to say about 'Knocks Me Off My Feet', it's easily one of my favorites here, just Stevie at his most perfect as a songwriter, vocalist, and composer; it's pretty stripped back when compared to everything else here. 'Pastime Paradise' brings back those dramatic and unsettling FM strings and choir vocals, which is fitting given the darker subject matter of the song, though I've always found it to be almost too sharp a change in pace from the previous tracks. It's striking is all, but I appreciate the left turn in terms of mood and genre; it's something this album does a lot, and it stops the album from feeling stagnant and gives the sequencing a lot of life. 'Summer Soft' is also great, lives up to its title. The highlights here are Stevie constantly pushing his voice and the slick organ solo closing the song out. And Shirley Brewer coming in out of nowhere to snatch the leads of 'Ordinary Pain' and then steering it in a completely different direction is such an incredible way to close off this disc, just an unforgettably fiery performance by her.

Disc 2 opens up with the iconic 'Isn't She Lovely', and while I don't like it as much as the opener to Disc 1, it's such an undeniably layered love ballad. It's one of this album's finest displays of tight mixing, just the way everything falls into place, while never stunting Stevie's ever-evolving boyish lead vocals. And that harmonica outro over these very human samples and this tight bass groove is a stunner, like driving off into the sunset side-by-side with the people who mean the most to you. 'Black Man' is maybe the album's most bluntly delivered "political" track - a super meaningful piece that has an absolutely infectious and warbly groove underneath it. Another one of those overtly funky tracks here. And the vocoder in the final part here is super weird to hear in the '70s. We then get the one-two punch of 'As' and "Another Star". The former is another one of those classic "perfect" Stevie Wonder love songs; similar to the opener, it grows in intensity very subtly, as more vocal harmonies are brought into the mix and that underlying organ flies loose. And then there's 'Another Star' which is one of the greatest songs ever, period. I can listen to this song forever, an absolute adrenaline rush. Despite the lyrics speaking of heartbreak, the song sounds like a celebration of life, just an insanely danceable piano and drum groove and a simple but immediately catchy vocal motif. It's repetitive, and goes the distance in terms of length, but the subtle changes throughout are what maintain the song's momentum. Like when everything is stripped back 2/3rds of the way through, and then the instruments are slowly brought back in with that first single snare hit that makes me lose my shit for some reason, and then that flute that just flutters over the whole thing. It's so damn good it should be illegal; if there's one song that makes me happy just to be alive, it's this one. And the album sends itself off pretty nicely as well with the final four tracks. We have the awe-inspiring synthetic orchestra and strange garbled bass slides of 'Saturn' and the most rock-oriented track on the album with 'All Day Sucker' with this really interestingly chopped repeating vocal snippet closing the song out. Finally there's the instrumental 'Easy Goin' Evening' which is the perfect album closer, another "sun setting harmonica" vibe, where the sun, in this case, was the album itself.

Well, it looks like I rambled again, but this album really is just that good. It's pleasant and easy 70s music to put on, but hidden deep within the songs are bits and pieces that are genuinely experimental and pretty ahead-of-the-curve. And again, it's such a shining album, just absolutely beaming with life and emotion. There's nothing out there quite like it.

Don't remember this album being this good back when I first heard it years ago. But such is the case with many albums.

The draw for me this time around was the very dry and raw-sounding playing, very few effects, with many human elements seeping through every note, with the fret buzz and audible slides and clicks, the voice very much included. It makes every instrument feel rustic, run-down, and percussive. And the hokey backing vocals, which have a very classic garage rock feel, like on 'Please Do Not Go', 'Prove My Love', and 'Kiss Off', just add to this pretty ridiculous atmosphere.

'Add It Up' was also incredible, just one of the most fierce and twisted basslines over this clunky proto-punk-sounding cluster of instruments. And in terms of vocals, this is Gordon at his most manic, especially in the way he strains his voice near the end. 'Confessions' is equally as wild, with these bursts of guitar noise, tremolo-picking, and out-of-nowhere drum rolls - completely chaotic. 'To The Kill' is an ominous change in pace, much slower, with this guitar that's constantly clipping in and out and another incredibly defined bassline that's just memorably melodic. And the closing track. 'Good Feeling' was a gorgeous change in pace, a much-needed soother after such a whacked-out experience.

Great album; I can see so many '90s emo, country rock, and alternative rock groups being directly influenced by this thing. I love how all-over-the-place it can feel, all while still coming off as mostly composed and stable. Like it's threatening to fall apart at any moment, but manages not to.

This album somehow manages to sound both relentlessly '90s and also well ahead of its time. And I did end up enjoying it quite a bit; it was a very dialed-in and focused take on this sound, just super consistent and well executed. I'd say the most predictive parts of this album stem from its bleaker and moodier tracks; a song like 'Single', for example, had these detuned atmospheric synth pads that had an early '2010s RnB feel to them. On the production end of things, it's about as downtempo as you can get, very soothing, slow, and, at times, sleepy. But not entirely in a bad way, just super lulling and hypnotic. "Walking Wounded' had maybe the most notably glitchy drum programming here, with this drum-n-bass feel to it. 'The Heart Remains a Child' was pretty neat, maybe the catchiest thing here, and I love that bright cutesy guitar on top of the whole thing. 'Flipside' also has this pretty sunny feel, with these crunchy trip-hop drums and a pretty sticky vocal melody on top of it all. 'Mirror Ball' was also a solid late-album track, with a sort of hazy and melancholic feel to it, maybe my favorite song on the album - the lyrics and vocal melody on this one I particularly enjoyed.

Good stuff here. Consistent to a fault almost, but I did find myself enjoying this more than I thought I would.

Honestly, I don't remember much about Scott Walker's previous album from this list. I will most definitely remember this one, though. Just a super gorgeous record, so many layers and moving pieces on so many of these songs, with the pop-accessibility of a group like Love with these luscious baroque instrumentals. The opener 'The Seventh Seal' blew me away - the acoustic guitar and giant strings here were telling a story of their own, one that complements the morbid one being told in the lyrics. This opener is heavy, dark, and mystical - sonic painting at its finest.

While I think the opener is a singular track, given there's nothing else on this album quite like it, the remaining tunes on this thing were still top-notch baroque pop. So many great moments. I loved the cavernous, reverby plucking on the slow, simple yet sentimental 'Boy Child', a song with backing strings that, if stripped back to just that, would sound like a very predictive ambient song. 'Hero Of The War' is one of the political songs on this album; it has a nice jangly feel to it which juxtaposes the tragic nature of its story. And this song, and the following 'The Old Man's Back Again', have these nice crunchy basslines that absolutely kill - especially that latter one. Some great love songs here too, 'The World's Strongest Man' and 'Duchess' especially, just two beautifully written songs with music that's equally as lush.

Scott himself has a great, large, and deep voice for this type of music, and I did enjoy him a lot on here. But it was really the backing compositions that stuck with me when this was all said and done. Still, a great all-around album that I'll definitely be revisiting in the future.

Neat album, reminds me a lot of Nick Cave, with the storytelling and sort of gloomy, deep crooning performances. Also similar to Bill Callahan in some of its spoken-work-esque singing. The album sort of jumps between these nice, slow love ballads and these pretty insane and theatrical horn-backed monsters. I preferred the former personally, especially early on with the songs 'Love's Enough' and 'One Night Stand', which had this really gorgeous flute hovering over it. 'Another Friday Night' was pretty great too; it jumps between this album's two "extremes" musically (piano ballad and a huge horn-backed outro), and is one of the more relatably sad songs here; the writing feels especially poignant and personal for something released in 1972. 'Family Band' I also liked because of the ginormous backing opera-type vocals.

The album can get waaaaay over-the-top for my liking and too theater-y as well, especially with 'Midnight Carousel' and 'Oh, California!'. But I did ultimately enjoy it lyrically, and there are some great production and vocal moments throughout.

An experimental and gnarlier take on '60s rock that borders on proto-punk at times. 'Have You Seen My Baby?' was maybe the highlight here, just a super cool take on rockabilly, but with the prominent bassline and energy of an early punk rock track. That sound *generally* describes a lot of what you're going to get on this album. The closer 'Whiskey Woman' felt like an oddball here, but it was one of the better songs, a very sweet and memorable track with great guitar work, lush harmonies, and a solid build-up near the end.

The rest of the tunes here are good, but nothing I haven't already heard from various other artists. The country-rock-leaning tracks here, especially 'Yesterday's Numbers', feel super derivative of the Rolling Stones, for example. The rock'n'roll-leaning tracks I found I enjoyed more, especially 'Evil Hearted Ada' and 'Doctor Boogie', despite them feeling almost parodical of guys like Elvis.

Ultimately, the execution is pretty damn solid. The playing is tight, and the songs are varied and enjoyable. The band lives up to their name here; they can get pretty damn groovy if the song demands it.

A hodgepodge of many different sounds, executed, for the most part, tastefully and enjoyably. Some songs had the sort of longing sadness of a Calexico album ('The Last Laugh of the Laughter' especially); some had the moody crooning of a Radiohead or Thom Yorke record. While the cleanliness of the production on a song like 'Driftwood' reminded me a lot of U2.

I will say, 'Writing to Reach You' was a pretty great opener. Just a super moody cut with some nice, sparkling guitar arpeggios and a solid, somber lead melody. 'Turn' was also pretty good, had a mid '2000s emo feel to it. And I actually liked the baroque-edge and wall-of-sound of the closer 'Slide Show', a definite standout here that I wish actually utilized its 10-minute runtime, instead of doing that annoying hidden track silence thing.

Not the most to say about this particular album; some really enjoyable moments here and there, but nothing that blew me away.

While I am vaguely familiar with this Patti Smith proto-punk classic album, it's been a really long time since I've heard it. And my appreciation for the genre has only grown since then. So naturally I enjoyed this a lot more than I had previously.
The opener "Gloria', a cover of a classic Van Morrison Garage Rock track, seems only fitting, like a re-imagining of the genre that REALLY kicked off punk music all the way back in the mid '60s. It's an explosive opener, slowly unveiling its punk tendencies out of a Stones-esque country intro, until they've encompassed this entire track. Sounds like something Television would do, especially in its final moments. It only makes sense, I can see a lot of New York punk acts taking from this record, vocally it's very much in the same vein as a guy like Tom Verlaine. The song "Free Money" also gives those Television vibes, especially in the way the song starts spontaneously speeding up and those guitars come in, so damn good. Very few punk acts I know of could top this honestly.

I find this record's "proto-punk legend" status is a bit misleading though. While I do think the ethos is certainly there, in the same way as a classic VU album, it's no Stooges record. Cuts here like the slowly growing "Birdland', with this cacophonous guitar growling in the background and hypnotic piano lead, doesn't sound particularly punk, but does have some parallels with the genre, and it's just a great song in its own right and an absolute album centrepiece. "Kimberly" sounds like it skipped right past punk and into early '80s new-wave, just a super catchy little riff with these nice shimmering synth backing. And the other giant track here ‘Land: Horses / Land of a Thousand’ Dances' has more in common with early '90s alternative than anything, impressive in its own right - early PJ Harvey comes to mind with this one. The muted scarcthes on the guitar on the second part especially have this interesting timbre that's very predictive of a lot of post-hardcore groups.

A record that has probably influenced more people than I can even begin to imagine, and it really sounds like it. When I say that this album, that pre-dates punk rock as a prominent genre, sounds like it skipped about a decade into punk's development, I really mean it. And it's not just defined by its influence either, the writing, vocals, and playing on this thing are all top notch. Great album.

My only Mod references up to this point are the Mod revival band The Jam, who had an album here that I really enjoyed. This seems like a more classic take on the sound, however, similar to The Kinks, who I also really like. The opening psychedelic instrumental into the pretty catchy and feel-good 'Afterglow' certainly grabbed me right off the bat. It's such an incredible song with a very gradual build and explosive chorus. The whole album is just as catchy, I'd say, and equally as British, especially when we hit the songs 'Rene' and 'Song of a Baker '- just a super playful and cheeky take on the Britpop of the time. I'm sure a lot of it went over my head (especially the second-side story I didn't fully follow); I'm not British after all.

But I can appreciate this album musically at least; it's certainly ambitious and anything but stagnant and still. Each song feels like a very different take on this style. "Happiness Stan' I liked quite a bit; it had that sort of menacing classical feel of some early psychedelic Kinks songs, and the second part when the organ comes in was epic. 'Rollin' Over' was pretty great too, with a classic Stones feel with these heavy, crushing, and bluesy guitars. Again, just such a singular track here; nothing else on this album is like it. 'Mad John' had a British folk feel to it that goes over exceptionally well. The second side does have these spoken-word pieces that open up or close up every song. I'm usually not a fan of these things being at the beginning of songs (would rather them be their own interludes), but I was fine with it here; this entire second side felt like a medley that's obviously telling one long story, so a spoken word piece connecting the songs and providing additional context wasn't egregious.

Small Faces, a band I'd never heard of but am glad I have now, are just about everything I love about this trippy, "throw everything at the wall" '60s mentality I enjoyed on so many of the Kinks' records. They manage to be both catchy and experimental, a perfect balance.

One of the most impossible albums in existence. The Avalanches manage to squeeze 3,500 samples into this record's hour-long runtime, without the resulting mix coming off as too messy or disjointed. I mean, it's still a plunderphonics record at the end of the day, so that feeling of rapidly flipping through your local radio stations is still very much here, but it's oddly cohesive for this style. The songs FEEL like songs, and not just the band exercising their sample-chopping skills for the sake of it. There are driving beats, hooks, stories, and so many emotions put on display here.

The opening title track is the band at their most perfect. It's not a song where you notice the sheer amount of samples used unless you were listening deeply. Because on top of all of it, you have this beautiful chipmunk vocal sample and these elegant, awe-inspiring strings gliding over the whole thing, and that's what really grabs your attention. All the other layers can easily fly by you if you weren't paying attention, but remove even one of those samples, and a veteran listener would immediately be able to tell. 'Stay Another Season' I almost consider the same song as the opener; the transition is seamless until that bass line comes in and you realize you're in an entirely different song. I love the ascending piano melody and horse (?) sample closing this thing out; it's one of the many oddball moments on this album. 'Radio', just like most of the album, brings this very summery vibe, but it's really elevated on this particular song, with those psychadelic West Coast synths being the real driver here. 'Flight Tonight' is the closest to obviously messy that this album gets; there's just so much flying at you at all times, it's overstimulating, and I love it - it perfectly captures the feeling of a chaotic night out in the heart of a ginormous city; with cars zooming by, thousands of people walking around, lights flashing different colours everywhere...it's great. Just a pumping techno groove here and such an infectious drumbeat, and I absolutely love the midway breakdown with this radio-host sample that's synced to sound like it's rapping over this stuttering breakbeat. 'A Different Feeling' is maybe the most Dilla-sounding thing here; it's again a cut that stands on its own two feet as just a good song, regardless of the broader context of the album. 'Electricity', while it takes a bit to get started, is just a solid hip-hop beat, something Madlib or, again, Dilla would put together, at least with that core loop. I can easily picture someone rapping over this. But unlike your standard hip-hop beat, this one is ever-changing and sporadic and absolutely restless. And god that bassline is great.

Then we have 'Frontier Psychiatrist' later on in the tracklisting, which honestly feels really disconnected from the rest of the album; it's such an odd twist so late in the record. The sample splicing is noticeable; they're not perfectly blended to form these Frankenstein songs, and you can hear where each sample starts and stops for the most part. It's not unlike a DJ Shadow song in that way. But goddamn if it isn't one of the best things put to tape. It's ominous, with low, eerie horn samples soundtracking these strangely spliced conversations and uncanny snippets, and ginormous, monstrous choirs and horns on the chorus. It's a ginormous track that makes the whole thing feel catastrophic, and there's absolutely no song like it out there.

The album sends itself off pretty nicely; the highlight at this point is the song 'Live At Dominoes', which goes full Daft Punk with vocoder vocals and one of the best snare sounds here. And I always shed a single tear when everything is temporarily low-passed out to make way for these bittersweet strings before everything is slowly brought back in all their stuttering Avalanches beauty. Again, a song with a gazillion things going on at once; never get bored of listening to this one specifically.

There is no album like this one, period. I know Plunderphonics is a large and varied genre, but this is the technical peak from what I've heard. Even with all the technology we have now that would've probably made the creation of this album a million times easier, I still haven't heard a plunderphonics record that so perfectly interleaves its samples to make something this massive. This being released in 2000 seems impossible to me, but I'll take people's word on it.

Perfectly average entry from The Rolling Stones. A good collection of songs that sort of breeze by, but without any sort of twist or new take on the blues and country rock sound from their previous three albums. And I'd argue their sound's a fair bit tamer here. It is insanely consistent though, almost to a fault.

It's not without its highlights, of course. The blaring horns and saxophone on 'Rip The Joint' were great; the song has that raw and sort of messy presentation that I really dig from the Stones generally. 'Shake Your Hips' reminded me of that one ZZ Top song, 'La Grange', just a really great, slow build - so much unreleased tension. 'Tumbling Dice' might be one of my favorite songs by the Stones period, just super soulful and cheery, an absolute hit in the mix here. I felt similarly about 'Let It Loose' and especially 'Shine A Light' later on in the tracklisting; they really show the Stones nailing this uplifting and grand sound - it's the one thing this album has over their previous ones. 'Torn and Frayed' was one of the better acoustic-driven cuts, just an infectious atmosphere created by the piano and guitar, especially in its final moments. And 'Sweet Black Angel' was a much-needed breather in the tracklisting; I enjoyed the grainier quality of the recording and the stripped-back instrumentation.

A record I think I would've loved more if it were cut down to its best songs because there's a lot of fluff and padding here. As it stands, this is just another pretty safe, but ultimately enjoyable Rolling Stones record.

PTSD for me seeing this group pop up on this list. I listened to their previous album 'The Holy Bible' a long time ago, and it was one of the darkest and most hopelessly depressing alternative rock albums I think I've ever experienced, especially the song '4st 7lb', a song that still haunts me to this day. I've been reluctant to revisit that album since.

Luckily, this record tones it down a bit. You still get songs that tackle darker themes here; 'Kevin Carter' was an early one that's about the tragedy of the titular troubled journalist. And 'Australia' has those escapism themes that were so prominent in the previous album. But a song like 'A Design For Life' I interpreted as being about a pretty hopeful outlook on one's own life, regardless of the position they find themselves in, in the larger context of their society. And the closer 'No Surface All Feeling' is about as bittersweet as closers come, apparently an ode to the friendship and bond between the band members.

Oh yeah, this thing also happens to be an incredible alternative rock record in its own right. It's a bit more on the maximalist side of things, compared to their previous record (from what I remember). More studio polish, keys, and explosive pop-rock choruses and all that, but I don't really mind it, especially on 'A Design For Life' or 'Enola/Alone', my favorite songs here. The song 'The Girl Who Wanted to Be God' was a bit too much, but the following 'Removables' has some blessed guitar work. I love the contrast between the more upbeat rhythm guitar and that ominous, cavernous electric guitar on the chorus of this song. Not too sure what it's about though. I mentioned 'Australia' as being pretty sad; yet it's also one of, if not the most catchy thing here, an absolutely driving alternative rock cut that was very Pearl Jam-esque in just about every way.

Reading up on this, the main lyricist for the band, Richie, apparently went missing shortly before this album was released and was later pronounced dead, which was maybe the biggest downer of this whole thing. But he left a hell of a collection of songs behind, and this is one hell of a '90s alternative rock album, one of the best from this list. Will be revisiting many songs from this.

I guess you can technically see all the worst tropes in a modern-day and post-Coldplay pop-rock world stemming from this one specific band; it's a satisfying observation. And I like Coldplay, and I like cheesy modern pop-rock (I grew up on it), but I'm not fully sure if I like U2, not sure about this album at least.

It's an undeniably easy listen, in all its overproduced and overly-sentimental glory. It's that new take on arena rock that caters to massive crowd sing-alongs with these simple and semi-motivational choruses. And melancholic and bittersweet chord progressions and instrumental palettes like with 'Walk On' or 'Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of'. Those were generally songs I enjoyed, alongside the undeniable highlight of an opener, 'Beautiful Day'.
"Wild Honey' was also pretty sweet; it's one of the less overblown tracks here. I also like the almost downtempo nature of 'New York' for a similar reason as well, and it's a sort of oddball song here lyrically.

But a lot of the other songs here were a bit too much; it was dizzying to an extent. The number of times the mix gets filled to the brim with Bono's vocals, with every other instrument feeling the need to be just as loud, was a bit too much. It's like the loudness war before the fact - believe it or not, you CAN have too much going on in one song.

Still, there's s a lot to love here, and it would be a pretty respectable collection of songs if it were trimmed down to its best moments. You know I always think I love this kind of music, until it's time to listen to a whole album-worth of it. Then I get exhausted and realize that music like this is defined by its best songs as opposed to its albums that contain said best songs. Luckily, there are more of those good songs here than your average early '2000s pop-rock album, so there's that.