Reviews by mkaddour2001

One of the most monolithic feeling hip-hop albums, like a pivotal moment for the genre and a shift into something grander and more prestigious. More than any other hip-hop album I've heard, this one really feels cinematic, a non-sequential tale of a man and his struggles, his escape from poverty, and his dreams of becoming something greater while being at constant odds with himself. It's epic and so well executed.

There is no better way to set the scene for an album like this than with the first three songs here. Skits detailing Biggie's life up until he was released from prison over these classic hip-hop and soul instrumentals (signifying the period in which the skits took place) open the record - I never skip this part. It then perfectly slides into one of the best hip-hop album openers of all time, 'Things Done Changed'. This beat feels so ahead of its time. You get these glitzy strings and an overdriven bass, and a Dr. Dre sample over Biggie's rapping, where he paints a picture of the current state in which he's in, mentally, emotionally, and financially, with a strong sense of yearning for the simplicity of the past. Again, flawlessly setting the scene for the album, no matter how old you are, or how far you are geographically from Brooklyn, you've now been seamlessly transported to this place in space and time. 'Gimme The Loot' is another incredible track, one that showcases that iconic Biggie Smalls storytelling, as he plays two partners and their quest for illegal funds via stick-ups, moral codes be damned. It's pretty funny and over-the-top edgy all things considered, and the "Gimme the Loot!" hook is one of those mega-iconic hip-hop things.

I do really love how this album starts, and while I do think it's overly long, with some unnecessary fluff that keeps it from being absolutely perfect, the great moments here outweigh many, if not all, the okay moments. 'Warning' is another one of those iconic Biggie storytelling moments and has maybe the fattest east-coast type beat here. 'The What' with Method Man is also another classic east-coast cut, and while it doesn't play into the grander story here, I'll always have room for a nice bragadocious song on these albums. I feel similarly about 'Who Shot Ya?', a super iconic track that's unfortunately tainted by its dark real-world implications. There aren't many features on this album; this really is just a personal Biggie story for over an hour, but the features that are here are great. Method Man is great, like I said, but honestly, Diana King on the chorus of 'Respect' wins for me; I just love her growly delivery over this funky instrumental.

I did mention this album was pretty dark and personal, especially for its time. It's very similar to Pac's 'Me Against the World' in a twisted way. Because with all the fun party songs in 'Big Poppa', or the feel-good success anthems ala 'Juicy', Biggie's grapple with himself is the most glaring theme here. I mean, the album is called Ready To Die, and Biggie makes that clear. The title track, for one, acknowledges this, but also the song 'Everyday Struggle,' further details everything Biggie deals with, from all his people dying around him, to the drug crisis, and his inability to really change in the face of that. And it's all done over this very fluttery synth lead, a strong contrast to the lyrics. 'Suicidal Thoughts' is maybe the most difficult song to listen to of the bunch. Awful P Diddy interjections aside, this song features Biggie's rawest lyrics. There's an awful aggression to it that would almost seem like it came out of nowhere, but is also so obviously boiling up throughout the album once you look back at it. I do think Biggie on this album did a lot for rappers taking on more personal topics, be it love or internal struggle. It feels like Biggie isn't trying so hard to put on a tough-man facade here, as much as he is trying to reach his listeners in as genuine a state as possible. But that really depends on the song still...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, everyone says it, and I can't really offer a counterargument or contrarian opinion to that at least. Biggie's flow is incredible; his storytelling and conceptual eye are put on full display here. The album contains two of the most popular hip-hop songs that even your grandmother could name, and also some of the most earwormy beats in '90s east-coast hip-hop. What's there not to love about "Ready To Die."

Solid debut for Björk, but nowhere near as interesting or out there as her later stuff, which I far prefer to this album. I think Björk's vocal chops, songwriting, and eye for strange fusions and off-kilter mixing choices are all here. But this album I find is steeped in the sounds of trip-hop, EDM, and house music that was so popular at this time; I find it sort of ends up aging this thing's sound on songs like 'Big Time Sensuality' and especially 'Crying' with that clunky piano loop. Still, Björk manages to squeeze a lot of personality out of these more generic instrumentals; it's just the way she is, nothing here is awful, and the songs themselves are pretty decent at the end of the day. I just tend to gravitate to the more adventurous songs on this album overall.

The opener 'Human Behavior' is iconic and maybe the most outwardly trip-hop song here. It's such an all-over-the-place banger in all the best ways and a perfect tone setter for Björk's career in general, lyrically and instrumentally. I love the eastern influence on the strings of 'Venus as a Boy', it's maybe the song that sounds the most like "otherworldly" Björk on here. It contains the angelic edge of her later records, perfectly capturing the grandeur and elegance of the boy presented in the lyrics. It's an incredible song. The sparse harp-driven 'Like Someone In Love' is also pretty great, for similar reasons, a song that strips away much of the noise and clunk to really let Björk's vocals shine. 'Come to Me' has that cavernous reverb feel to it over this slick drum loop; it's another song that really captures the beyond-life feel that I love so much about Björk's music - her depictions of love over this awe-inspiring instrumental are enough to bring a tear to my eye.
Also, I've always found 'There's More To Life Than This' hilarious, just with that super upbeat '80s pop type chorus and the live-recording getting shut behind a door alone with Björk for some reason mid performance.

So yeah, far from my favorite Björk. But definitely not awful, and a select few songs here remain absolute '90s classics. It's just that her later stuff is so much more polished and unique, but for any other artist, this could have very well been a peak.

Undeniably one of the best albums ever. Nina Simone is a gem in about every single way an artist can be a gem - expressive vocals, intimate and heart-tugging piano playing, and song-writing that's striking, evocative, and haunting. And this album really is haunting - there's something so un-easing about the stark contrast between the poppy, catchy opener 'I Love Your Lovin' Ways' and the slow, tragic 'Four Women', a testament to Nina's writing ability. The song contains the realistic, ugly depictions of early 20th-century racism of a song like 'Strange Fruit' that Nina has covered before, but it's treated with so much elegance, like being performed in a small lounge, backed against purple curtains. It's a strange contrast, and the swelling, emotional final chorus remains one of the most powerful moments in pretty much any song I've ever heard.

After this, the album continues to dish out some of the best singer-songwriter tracks of the '60s, proving that Nina was operating at a level that no other artist of her time was. There's a lightness to the playing and singing here; the whole thing feels so delicate and fragile, and again, haunting and cold in some of these songs. 'Lilac Wine' is one of those songs that starts cold and bitter, but very gently warms up as the rhythm is established and the chorus hovers in. Just such an elegant and beautifully paced ballad, never doing too much, just existing in such a perfect space. The title track is another one of these precarious songs, a tightrope walk between romance and desperation. This is maybe the closest song on this album to traditional vocal jazz; there's just so much going on with the intense piano playing, and it's another piece that crescendos perfectly. The journey this title-track takes me on every single time is indescribable; my soul feels so whole by the end of it. 'Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair' has maybe my favorite piano playing here; it's so empty and spacious and has an almost ambient feel to it. Every single chord here is enough to break me, and the nature of the playing really allows Nina's vocals to soar.

'What More Can I Say?' and 'That's All I Ask' are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum when compared to the tracks I just mentioned; they break into these amazing big band bits about halfway through, like the love Nina is feeling in these songs is too strong to be left caged in a slower piano ballad. 'Break Down And Let It All Out' I've always thought was super underrated. It's such a change in pace instrumentally with these horn leads and a more prominent drum-kit-driven beat. It's ruthlessly catchy and has some of Nina's most punchy depictions of heartbreak. And "Why do you toy with my dreams? They're depending on you to come true" on 'Why Keep On Breaking My Heart' is such an amazing line on this wall-of-sound-styled pop-song that I also think is super underrated.

An album you can weep to because of just how much emotion is radiating from every single song and note. So much talent on display, so much warmth in the vocals and playing. An album I'd live in if I could, but I can't; I'm stuck out here 60 years later in this cold, ugly future. Oh well.

Ambient music is one of my favorite things, and Airports and Airplanes are maybe some of my least favorite things, so this was bound to be a masterpiece on so many levels.

Ambient music in general has, a few times now, saved me on long, miserable plane rides. And it's kept me calm during those claustrophobic treks through germ-filled airports that are always much longer and less convenient than they need to be. And this was Eno's exact ethos behind this album, making awful environments more bearable. And that sort of became the mission statement for ambient, at least in my relationship to it; it's music that I can so easily close my eyes to and be transported to another place for a set period of time. And while this isn't the greatest ambient album of all time or anything, it certainly lacks the lush, encompassing, reverb spaces that many later ambient albums (and even Eno ambient albums) have, it's an incredible start to the genre.

'1/1' contains maybe the most iconic ambient melody of all time, and while it isn't a super layered track or anything, it's still striking in just how welcoming it sounds. The sparseness and gleeful nature of this piano melody with that subtle synth layer in the background is all this song really needs. The simplicity of it all feels so primal and pure, like you're a baby staring out into a large, empty green meadow, where the sky is blue and wind turbines line the horizon. It's so perfect. And while '2/1' is maybe a bit too repetitive and one-note, the main reverb-choir-type samples come back in the following '1/2' with this newly established layer of piano, which makes for a far more meloncholic atmosphere when compared to the opener, almost dreary and sad, but never too much to get a negative reaction out of me, I still generally feel at peace listening to this part. '2/2' is maybe the most traditional-sounding piece here, with fat, swelling analog synth leads and luscious pads just floating along with no real discernible melody, which is really ambient in its purest form. A song that I throw on to remind myself of all the loved ones in my life who make everything worth it and to feel like a single balloon floating through that same meadow from the opener.

I love ambient music; it's so important to me. And this is where it (mostly) started, at least ambient as we know it today takes many notes from this four-movement masterpiece. It's rare that you can pinpoint an entire music genre's origins to one single album that's literally named "<name of genre> 1", so I find it amazing that this thing exists for that exact reason. Whether you're trying to sleep when you have a heavy snorer in the same room, or trying to make it through that awful plane ride, or just feeling anxious in general and need to disassociate for just a little bit - Eno's got an album tailor-made for you.

Almost forgot how unbelievably tight and punchy this group was. CCR just scratches an itch that literally no other band can. Something about how simple everything seems on the surface level, but how ultimately sharp, psychadelic, and dirty-bluesey the sum of its parts turns out. And Fogerty's gritty vocals are the piece that ties the infectious songs here together. I'd say this album is more ambitious than 'Green River' overall, straying away from the more traditional swamp rock and country sounds of that album in favor of these more explorative genre fusions. I still like the tunes on that album a bit more overall, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't another masterpiece in CCR's finest hour.

'Ramble Tamble' is such an undeniable opener. What starts as your typical CCR song switches up (out of the blue) into this ominous, monstrous growing interlude that's as sinister as it is epic. It's one of the greatest things the band has ever done. The best part is how it just sort of goes back to that typical Creedence hootin' and hollerin like nothing happens.

Everything that follows is just as perfect. 'Travelin Band' and 'Ooby Dooby' are such infectious takes on the tried-and-true early Rock'n' Roll sound. For as cliché as the song structures and melodic progressions on these songs are, I can never say I dislike the leg of the album. The songs themselves are way too catchy and enough interesting is being done with the guitars that I just never minded them at all. 'Lookin Out My Backdoor' is a very warm take on their country-tinged style, which reminds me a lot of the longing of a song like 'Lodi'. 'Up Around the Bend' is such a fucking banger, I love that twangy slide riff and Fogerty's melodic writing here is second to none, an unshakeable earworm. 'Who'll Stop The Rain' is maybe my lesser favorite of the two famous CCR "Rain" songs, which isn't really saying much, both are impeccable, and the pain in Fogerty's delivery here is as believable as ever. Super heavy and somber song with this dreary, but also at times hopeful sounding chord progression. And 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' is this band absolutely nailing a jam-rock type song - an 11-minute energy blast that just flies by every single time.

I've loved pretty much everything these guys have done since I started listening to them a few years back. Again, there's just something so addicting about this band's take on so many "generic" '60s and early '70s styles; they just did it so much better than many of their contemporaries.

Always really enjoyed this Flaming Lips record; it's just so bubbly, colorful, and warm. It has that otherworldly feel but still manages to sound so human, a unique balance very few music acts have been able to pull off. It reminds me a lot of early Eno more than any psych record I've heard, especially when it comes to the abstract and surreal imagery over these sort of dusty but very eclectic bits of art pop instrumentation (dusty drums here also give a sort of trip-hop vibe).

'Race for the Prize' has always been a personal favorite, such an extravagant opener that's beaming with energy and joy, like the wonder of staring up at the city skyline after exiting a long, dark tunnel. This record in general is very theatrical like that, could be over-the-top at times with these sweeping string sections, but it all still comes off as sincere at the end of the day. The instrumentals here are standouts as well; 'The Observer' and 'Sleeping on the Floor' showcase the band's most textured soundscapes. You rarely find an album where the instrumentals are about as good, if not on the same level as, the regular, sung songs. Again, it reminds me a lot of what made the early Eno albums so amazing. 'The Gash' was another highlight here, love those grainy and almost distorted group vocals, and how they clash with the cleanish production.

Fun and very easy album to get through, keeps your ears busy and warm like a pair of fluffy ear muffs.

About as mundane, dated, and uninteresting as this style of music gets, it just made me want to listen to Michael Jackson or some other '80s pop artist who far excelled in this style. I just feel like it lacks a necessary boldness; the vocals feel so restricted, like the melodies here aren't sticky or sharp at all, they just sort of exist. And the production left a bad taste in my mouth because while it is lush and ever-evolving at times, it also just reeks of its time in all the worst ways, just super clunky and screams FM presets.

Most definitely not for me.

Love this album cover first and foremost, it's so goofy, like who are you? Get away from me.

Overall, though this was a pretty weird record, I think I'll need a fair bit of time to wrap my head around it. But first impressions were generally positive; it's definitely unique in its own twisted (freaky) little way, and also undeniably disorienting. It was sort of Weenish at times, with its consistently facetious presentation, in even some of the most serious songs. 'Susan's House' was maybe the most glaring example with this cutesy piano prop'd up against this very dark spoken word piece, making for an uneasy listening experience, but it's certainly effective.

Even after finishing this, this album evades easy genre-classification - there's a bit of trip-hop in here, but also weird alternative and grunge spins, like with the catchy 'Rags to Rags', maybe my favorite song here. 'My Beautiful Monster' has a weird outro; it's just another song that feels super unsettling given its twisted depiction of love paired with these cacophonous, feedbacky guitar interjections. The album itself is filled with this sort of imagery, a lot of harsh depictions of self and growth, coming to a head with the subdued 'Guest list' and further tied in with the following 'Manic'. Kind of reminds me of "M&A" by Modest Mouse, given its very minimal sublime and personal nature - 'Spunky' here sounds very much out of that album. It's really not a very layered album (musically), has that old-school hip-hop ethos where there really is only one melody, or sample looping, and not too much in terms of standard song structures. But the stark nature of it all only added to the album's appeal for me.

I dug this thing for the most part. Actually, while listening to it, I didn't notice that it was from all the way back in '96, which makes it even more impressive. It sounds like the type of lowkey, soft-spoken, experimental indie that would start popping off in the early to mid '2000s.

It's no secret that Tom Waits, and this album in particular, mean the world to me. Waits has always been a master at shifting his sound - musically, lyrically, and vocally, - to whatever strange world he's about to throw the listener into. I'd say he's at his most "Real Tom" on Bone Machine, still my favourite of his, but on this album Tom balances playing all these very different characters exceptionally well.

Like a good chunk of Waits' mid- and late-era albums, this one's pretty difficult by nature. It's always jumping between sounds and is the furthest thing from consistent - you get the discordant, clanging Beefheart worship of the opener 'Singapore', the pretty danceable and almost Latin-inspired guitar of 'Jockey Full of Bourbon', a Springsteen-esque heartbreak rocker with 'Hang Down Your Head', the sombre and very introspective ballad of 'Time', an oddball country-rock jukebox track with 'Blind Love', and a pretty established and widely-covered '80s pop-rock standard with 'Downtown Train' .... ALL ON THE SAME ALBUM. It's admittedly the thing I dislike most about this thing, especially on the second side: it lacks a *strong* sonic identity, but I assume that's the point; the characters Tom plays here are lost, and they themselves have no strong identity, so it only makes sense that the music would follow suit.

And the characters Waits plays here are great. There's a large emphasis on being lost and unguided - hence the "Rain Dogs" title. Obviously you have that on the title track, where an ominous organ intro gives way to Waits' barked, Disney-villain-esque singing. The closer 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' is just beautiful, purposefully over-the-top vocally, with Waits' voice cracking as he takes on the character of a homeless man who finally accepts his place in a world where passersby are constantly laughing in their sleeves as they walk by him. Some great storytelling moments here too: 'Time' is composed of three beautifully written and sort of tragic stories, and 'Jockey Full of Bourbon' details a night full of mischief and has maybe the tightest and most infectious guitar and drum groove on this album, and I love the way Tom's hushed vocals sound so slick over it all; he's purposefully far less clunky and more dexterous here. 'Union Square' is similar, with its observational writing; Waits details all the strange people and events he sees downtown. 'Gun Street Girl' has that satisfying edge as well, just super smoky and crunchy, as Waits lazily tells a cautionary tale of impulsive love over this loose, bluesy guitar. 'Tango Till Their Sore' is sung from the perspective of a drunk yearning for death, all while micromanaging the finest details of his funeral and burial. And 'Big Black Mariah' is one of the fattest blues tracks I've ever heard, just absolutely booming and stomping, and maybe the greatest demonstration of Tom's powerful vocals.

I think there are a few songs I missed mentioning because I don't want to ramble too too much - they're all so great, and I've listened to this album a million times at this point, so I like every song here to some extent. This is far from a conventional album, but I really do think that there's a song for everyone to love here, given just how varied it is sonically. And the sum of its parts is one of the most enjoyable journeys into the minds of society's troubled outcasts, told through the lens of a generational storyteller and voice. Masterpiece.

Heard of these guys before, seeing as they were SST contemporaries to one of my favorite bands of all time, The Minutemen, but this is my first time checking them out. They're pretty damn good, carrying a lot of what I love about the fellow label mates: prominent (but simple) basslines, witty lyricism, country twangs, and other perplexing genre fusions, it has it all.

They're certainly much slower than your typical punk act, focusing more on creating these dense guitar-filled environments, like with 'Lost', which feels almost like a spoof on a tried-and-true '70s country rock cliche. Or the hilariously reverbed guitars closing out 'Plateau'. The guitar work here might be the overall highlight; it's pretty ahead of its time for the early '80s, containing all these shimmering arpeggios and liberal use of heavenly pedal effects. 'We're Here' was another highlight, with the guitar effects eliciting this feeling of sitting in a warm hot spring; there's something almost ambient about it. You also get the weird psychedelic and almost acid turn of the noiser interlude 'New Gods' which was a nice change in pace.

Vocals here need a shout-out as well; they're the sort of off-kilter, awkward thing you'd expect out of later '90s slacker rock acts. The bass is great as well, especially on the swelling psych-infused outro of 'Teenager(s)', which is one of the most gorgeous moments on the album. The bass on the following 'I'm Not Here' also gives heavy Watt vibes, with its simple but catchy and almost nursery-rhyme-esque melody.

Apparently, this album is genre-tagged with "Cow Punk" which is hilarious, but it really does feel like a drunken, misguided, but introspective afternoon out on the ranch, in all the best ways.

A very well-liked Jazz icon that I, ashamedly, know very little about. So I was quite eager to dive into this live record. Really made my workday that much more tolerable as I threw it on and immersed myself in its peaks and valleys for nearly 2 hours.

It's a very easily digestible and light swing album; it has that fluttery feel that a lot of jazz albums of its time do. Say, for maybe the opener 'Black and Tan Fantasy', which feels more bitter than anything else here, with these odd, twisted solos. There's a lot of tension building on this track before you get that euphoric, explosive finish. It's a strange opener, but I dug it because right after that, you get 'Tea For Two,' which is the polar opposite side of the spectrum, an incredibly infectious and melodic track.

There's a generally very dexterous feeling to the "Big Band" performances here - they're not super clunky or heavy, but agile, light as a feather, and very slick, elevated by the many spot-lit solos that almost lead the backing band, as opposed to the other way around; noticed this on "Take the 'A' Train" especially with that killer trumpet solo. But the band does ultimately remain feeling "Big", nothing about that's changed, you'll get these huge drowning horn jabs all over this thing that just scream "'50's swing".

Some other highlights are 'Sophisticated Lady', which is this slow, brooding track over this much less outspoken, atmospheric backing piece. A mellowing change in pace. 'Dimineundeo in Blue' brings back that squawking sax over what is maybe the lightest playing in the concert yet, with Duke's piano remaining a highlight. I love the way it cools the atmosphere almost instantaneously, like closing the shutters of a once bright room, setting the tone for the solo to come. And apparently, this was the song that kicked off the riot captured in this performance; you can really hear the crowd growing restless as that monstrous tenor solo just keeps going for a good chunk of the song. I get it, it's a damn great solo. The vocal moments on this album were pretty good too, adding some variety, which there is already plenty of (in terms of players) - my favorite was the song 'Tulip Turnip.'

Pretty good live record that manages to keep things fresh for its longer duration. I'm pretty sure I listened to the "Complete" version, which isn't what was originally intended, but the monolithic nature of this version, with the constant switching of soloists and players, made the whole thing feel very alive and dynamic. Great record.

Funny that this appeared on this list now, I was thinking of listening to this album just a few days back, after hearing some good things about Bill Callahan. A very introspective, surreal, and floaty album with stream-of-consciousness type lyricism over slow, atmospheric Americana-inspired instrumentation, with touches of baroque and folk laced throughout. It's all very dramatic and dense and does a great job at creating the world that you'll be encapsulated within for the duration of the record.

Ultimately, though, Bill's vocals are the draw here; they're very blunt, both lyrically and in his delivery. He has this almost talk-sing style, and not as much driving melody in his singing as you'd expect from a singer-songwriter album. Found it a bit gimmicky at first, but it didn't take long for it to start clicking. It's a very unique style. There's a lot of nature-centric imagery on this record; the most obvious is 'All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast,' which helps contextualize the title of the album itself. The song uses smaller birds and an Eagle to represent the protagonist's intrusive thoughts taking up unwanted real estate in his mind. I love the way the strings and horns swell on this song as the Eagle reigns over these trees with smaller nests, and it's maybe the most emotive performance by Bill here. 'Too Many Birds' also has more of that nature-driven imagery; I really enjoyed the simplicity of the writing of this track and many of the other songs here (like on 'My Friend') - it feels like basic observational writing tied to some deeper meaning for the protagonist, like him finding solace and relatability in the most day-to-day things in nature. The internal monologuing nature of the writing here is just fantastic; it instantly ropes you in with the dreariness and morbidity of the first two songs, the twisted soft-heartedness and sarcasm of the hook in 'Eid Ma Clack Shaw' especially stuck with me. The opener 'Jim Cain', upon revisit after finishing the album, seems almost confined when compared to the freeing and euphoric messaging of the closer 'Faith/Void', it's such a depressing opener...leaves a void in my soul...love it.

An album that I think would still greatly benefit from more repeated listening, Bill leaves the listener with a lot to chew on with the songs here. He does so much with so little; the imagery and sounds are very in your face, but it still seems like there are a million different ways to bounce the ideas presented here in your head. Beautiful album.

Cool album, enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, with its very loud, varied, and catchy take on a lot of the alt, britpop, and slacker rock sounds of the mid '90s. Nothing unique really, just good solid tunes. The album really started winning me over with the songs 'Goldfinger' and especially 'The Girl From Mars, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that even deeper into the album, many of the songs continued to stick the landing.

I found this album more tolerable than many other albums associated with its style - I just find the riffs, melodies, song structures, and writing here to be more digestible and charming, and less grating and repetitive (given the record's length). Guitar playing is a highlight here; you get raging solos with some cool pedal effects, alongside those pretty typical fuzzy riffs you'd expect out of this genre. Also, a few oddly fitting instrumental choices, like with the string sections of 'Gone The Dream' and 'Oh Yeah', the latter of which was maybe my favorite song here, just gorgeously put together with this theatrical, almost glam-rock feel. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed the interlude-y but fun 'Kung Fu' which sounded like an early Ramones-type punk rock song. 'Let It Flow' was another earworm here, really highlighting just how tight, albeit simple, the melody and songwriting on this album are.

An album that's really good at what it does, and varied enough across its 50-minute runtime to keep me entertained. Yeah, it's cliche and sort of cheesy at times, but also, it was just ridiculously easy to get through, and I had a lot of fun with it.

An undeniable classic in '90s alternative and indie rock, and easily Pavement's finest hour. While emo long pre-dated this album, I feel like a lot of the modern sounds associated with the genre sprouted from this band and a group like Modest Mouse. I do prefer MM, but I'd be lying if I said this album wasn't also filled with impeccable performances, ear candy, off-kilter riffs, and tight sympathetic songwriting.

That depressed, angsty, off-kilter style is the appeal here, so many songs feel off in the oddest ways; the record at times sounds like it's being played out of the most busted jukebox you can find in the Midwest. Be it due to Stephen's awkward off-key singing, often straining his vocal well out of his range, or what sounds like error notes being baked into the core riffs here. At times it feels amateurish, but that's more of a front that the band puts on; the lush, well-mixed, tight playing here tells a completely different story. The twisted, run-down nature of everything is more of a sound being pulled off impeccably well by some seriously skilled musicians. It still all feels sincere, though, especially that closing song 'Fillmore Jive', which is such a downer closer, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't oozing so much passion out of every single note.

Some other great moments here. I love the yearning of the country-rock tinged 'Range Life', it's maybe the freest and most cathartic song here, with some tight guitar work. 'Gold Soundz' has always been a personal favorite, just a ridiculously catchy tune prop'd up against these bitter lyrics that are sung with so much raw, unadultered passion; an all-timer alt-rock song. 'Cut You Hair', like 'Range Life,' I always interpreted as a commentary on the band's observation of the musical culture shift around them and the predatory nature of the music industry's hand in that shift; it's also super catchy. I love the hacky harmonies on 'Elevate Me Later', another incredibly catchy song with some killer tremelo leads.

A really great album, enjoyed it much more this time around when compared to my first listen many years back. I've always respected Pavement for having such an idiosyncratic sound, while also not being afraid to dive into a lot of the cliches of their time. In a lot of ways, they put those "cliches" on the map, but they still manage to put a good enough twist on them, keeping things fresh.

Was a bit indifferent towards this early, yet undeniably influential grunge group back when I first heard them with 'Super fuzz'. Haven't revisited it much, but I think I failed to notice just HOW ahead of its time that EP was. But, while 'Superfuzz' was released well before the Nirvana (and Grunge) explosion, this album was released around the same time as the album 'Nevermind'. It's certainly a more fragmented album when compared to that early EP and many of their contemporaries, opting to explore a vast range of ideas and instrumental pallets rather than stick to one homogenous sound and fleshing it out, not unlike the Pixies, for example. I did find myself enjoying this album way more than that early EP, though.

The drumming here remains a standout; it's sort of unorthodox, kind of hypnotic, and a bit tribal feeling, but can easily switch to that familiar punk/garage style at the drop of a dime, like on 'Shoot The Moon'. The guitar work is varied enough to keep me interested, especially on a song like 'Good Enough,' which has maybe the most memorable riff here. And if there's one thing Mudhoney didn't abandon, it's their unrelenting '80s punk energy - just listen to songs like 'Thorn', 'Into The Drink', and especially the organ-driven 'Who You Drivin' Now?'. Oddly enough, the instrumental 'Fuzz Gun '91' really stuck with me as well; it had this early '70s proto-punk vibe that I really dug. Overall, though, the undeniable highlight was this album's centerpiece, 'Broken Hands', just the way the song shifts and grows, and hypnotizes over its 6-minute trudge through this tragic heartbreak, painted with imagery that's so potent and ugly. And that closing solo absolutely kills, might be the best thing I've heard by these guys yet.

While nowhere near as catchy or even memorable as many of their contemporaries, especially the Big Nirvana, I did find myself enjoying pretty much every moment here. The at times non-cohesive and messy presentation, the experimental punk energy, and off-kilter fusions... I'm not sure if Mudhoney were always like this, or if they were trying to set themselves apart from the scene they so obviously helped bring to the mainstream. Either way, a damn good record with an infectious energy.

Always felt a bit weird about Elvis Costello. Thought he was almost a bit too artsy for his own good, all while not being as artsy as he needed to be to pull off his ambitiously verbose take on new-wave. His music seems melodic on the surface, sure, like a dense painting with more layers than you can even begin to process, but it also feels almost jagged and parodical to many of its contemporaries, with vocals that hit so many notes, constantly twisting and turning to seemingly no end. And he's not exactly the greatest singer, a man who's not afraid to go beyond his very obvious (and limited) vocal sweet-spot - it's an acquired taste that I haven't really acquired yet. So all that to say, I've always found this guy way too much for me, and this album unfortunately amplifies all the guy's worst qualities. I did enjoy a few songs here, as I generally do with Costello's music; there are always a few songs that I enjoy. In this case, 'I Hope You're Happy Now', and especially the more mellowed out 'Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head' show off Costello's talents well enough. On the second side, 'Battered Old Bird' showed more restraint than many other songs on the album, with it subtly building but never flying off the rails, and it features some of Costello's most impassioned and focused vocals and lyrics, period. A nice break from the slew of other melodramatic heartbreak songs that make up a good chunk of this album and his discography in general.

I kind of sigh whenever I get one of this guy's albums, to be honest. His music is just so hit-or-miss for me - you might get a gorgeous, well-constructed song that can be a contender for greatest art-rock song of the '80s, but, more often than not, you get something that just sounds like a directionless mess and the definition of ideas being thrown at the wall, with very little of it sticking. I guess I can say that I admire the boldness, but as I said already, it could and needs to be a lot bolder. As it stands, 'Blood and Chocolate' is maybe my least favorite release from this guy yet.

Really great debut by this band that I wasn't familiar with at all. A very cold, sinister gothic post-punk record with some killer vocals (courtesy of Kristen Hersh) and genuinely engaging writing. The opening track immediately hooked me with these uneasy, shaky vocals, the sinister arpeggios, and that sobering jangle-pop-esque switch-up in the final part. 'Green' was another favorite; the falsetto part in the chorus was very Kate Bush, and so was this groove in general, given it had this classic folksy feel to it. And the lyrics are devastatingly haunting in their depiction of obsession and fantasies that never manifested. 'Hate My Way' has a "The Cure" vibe, especially when it warms up in the middle, and the bass becomes more defined. And it's another song where the writing is superb, just super evocative. Not entirely smart enough to pick apart its meaning fully, but it seems to me that it's about the protagonist's inability to do anything in the face of some grand injustice, or feeling like they're somehow a part of the problem itself. 'Vicky's Box' is an all-around banger, with incredible bass and guitar work, and these raw guttural vocals. 'Rabbits Dying' sounded very much like an early '90s PJ Harvey song, in both of its very different sections, with more disturbing imagery on this one.

Super underrated band and album, with lyrics, vocals, and riffs that would put many of their contemporaries to shame. Sucks that I hadn't heard of this band sooner, but that's what this list is for.

A weird hodgepodge of early '2000s indie-isms, with a tendency to lean towards older Brit-pop and grunge sounds dating back to the early '90s. A bit of garage too, the opening title track gave me some 'The Strokes' vibes. The sounds on this album are generally pretty well executed. Still, I couldn't help but feel like many of the songs themselves were half-baked, like they were cut off way too early, or like they were just snippets of larger ideas that never manifested into anything complete.

Still, some solid songs here. The noisy 'Outtathaway' was an immediate highlight, leaning towards that more early Radiohead/Nirvana grunge type sound. The biggest song off this album, 'Get Free', also brought a similar blood-pumping grunge/punk energy. 'Homesick' was also pretty great, just a slow, beautiful climb with these simple but very human harmonies, a soaring guitar solo, and gorgeous, reverby, twinkling guitar arpeggios sending the song out. 'Factory' I also liked, the jump between these bouncy basslines and these typical Britpop fuzzy guitars feels like it could've been the Beatles' take on this genre.

Definitely a wide range of sounds explored here, but I do think The Vines, or this album at least, fail to do anything too interesting or unique for their time. But still, executed pretty well all things considered.

Probably one of the most respectable "rap-rock" groups out there, although I wouldn't fully put them under that umbrella, despite them taking a lot from the ferocity of groups like Public Enemy, and fusing them with the deeper, feedback-drenched, scratchy guitar riffs of the hardcore scene, with dubby basslines and short, piercing riffs that sound straight out of a Fugazi record.

The obvious highlight here is 'Killing In The Name Of', maybe one of the greatest punk metal songs out there - Morello's dentist drill guitar solo, followed by the final build in its closing minutes, stands as one of those insane blood-pumping rebel anthems in music history. There's such an undeniable ferocity to Zack's vocals; he was only in his early '20s at this point, which is both impressive and clearly also contributed to the fiery youthful energy of this album. 'Take the Power Back' is maybe the most overt Public Enemy nod here, everything from Zack's Chuck-D-esque flow to catchy motto-driven hook.

The song 'Know Your Enemy' has maybe the most earwormy riff here, and that weird, sung almost emocore-esque bit in the middle is super out of place, but it works oddly well. And this is another song where Morello's guitar solo absolutely rips. I know the guy uses a shit ton of wonky pedals to get these whiney, controrted, sharp effects on his guitar, but it doesn't feel like a guy just jerking off with pedals (oddly enough). He relies on them to get a signature sound, yes, but it's not like he doesn't do any of the heavy lifting himself. I already mentioned the solo in 'Killing In the Name Of,' but the weird vocoder thing on 'Wake Up' and the continued PE worship with the high-pitched wailing of 'Fistful of Steel' are some other certified Morello moments.

Songs on this album are also generally really dynamic, doing the very common quiet-to-loud post-hardcore thing really well. Because of that, the songs never feel stagnant or too still. And for as noisy as this thing yearns to be, there are moments of beauty that sprout out of seemingly nowhere, like the brief interlude on 'Wake Up' or that outro on 'Take the Power Back'.

Just an overall really well rounded-album, especially for a goddamn debut - these guys really hit it out of the park. There's just so much to chew on here, from the incredible core riffs to the scratchy tone on those feedback-drenched guitars, to Morello's ridiculous solos, to Zack's politically driven shouts. I remember when I first heard this years back, I thought it was a bit long, and while I do still think the final tracks are maybe the weakest of the batch, it by no means bogged down the experience.

Ah, yes, Jamiroquai, a group I've been meaning to check out for the longest time because of how much I love that one GIF from the Virtual Insanity music video. And, yeah, there's some pretty good stuff here. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of early '70s Funkadelic, given the political edge to the lyrics, the bigger emphasis on genre fusions. You get nice horn sections and strings overlaying the core funk instrumentation here, and the occasional jazzy interlude as well, with a song like 'Too Young To Die.' Bit of hip-hop as well with the occasional scratching - overall an impressive and eclectic collection of sounds is put on display.

And there were some great songs, the opener, 'How You Gonna Learn?' hooked me almost immediately, but 'Revolution 93' was maybe my favorite song here. It was a nice change in pace, with this fuzzy, acid bassline over this frantic marching snare pattern. The backing vocals add a lot of texture, and the song certainly earns its ambitious length with those constant switch-ups, just a super epic funk odyssey. Jay Kay's vocals are pretty great all over this thing; they're super light and fluffy, sort of like a more restless Stevie Wonder, especially when he's singing in his upper register over these sunny instrumentals like on the song 'If I Like It, I Do It'. It gives the whole album a real feel-good vibe despite the at times bleak political themes.

I will say this record does suffer a bit from being on the longer side because while the playing is generally tight and enjoyable, I did find the songs blend in with one another near the middle. But I'm sure that'll get resolved with subsequent listens. Good intro to this band.