Reviews by muse-getes

I'm sure this hits a lot harder when you're a teenage girl in the 60s

I wish I could see what everyone else seems to in these guys.

I thought I was in for a stinker here for the first few minutes (the title track in particular was some real clown punk) but it picked up a lot from track 4 and stayed pretty consistently enjoyable from there through to the end. I was leaning towards a 3 but I'll be nice and give it a 4 because I'm glad I was introduced to it even if I didn't love it.

Favourite tracks: Re-Ignition, Sacred Love

Hendrix made a lot of great songs, but unfortunately very few of them are on this album. For me, Axis too often falls into the worst excesses of psych rock where the band are just jamming out with little care for any kind of structure, but also not coming up with anything particularly interesting musically to make it worthwhile. It's the sort of album where everything between the highlights quickly vanishes from your mind the moment you finish listening to it. The highlights here are pretty good though, at least.

Favourite Tracks: Little Wing, Spanish Castle Magic, If Six Was Nine

I liked the first song at least.

There are some pretty good songs on here but I can't get past how low quality the recording and production is. It's too distracting.

With this list being my first time listening to any Springsteen albums, I've got to say I found this one a lot more enjoyable than Born in the USA and Nebraska. It felt a lot more varied musically, and I certainly liked the energy here a lot more than on Nebraska. Way catchier, but still with a bit of an edge to it. 3.5 out of 5 for me.

Favourite tracks: Adam Raised a Cain, Candy's Room, Streets of Fire

At least Let Love Rule got a decent remix down the line.

Today I learned where Elliott Smith learned how to write songs. Also how to sing. Clearly I should have known about these guys already; it sounds like they came up with the whole 90s slacker rock sound a couple decades before it took off.

But yeah, this was a fascinating listen, I thought. I really loved all the interesting little musical curveballs in a lot of these songs, like the sudden, brief strings that pop up here and there and the unorthodox chord progressions. Kangaroo is a good example of what I'm talking about as it's like all the weird songwriting quirks on the album are condensed into this one, very weird song that I'm not sure if I love or hate. It's discordant and honestly a little ramshackle sounding, yet it's oddly beautiful. It's the most unconventional song on the record, yet I think it kind of sums up the whole vibe of the album nevertheless.

It feels like a very confused and erratic album, but I find it very compelling in spite of its obvious shortcomings. I'm almost tempted to give it a 5 but I think that's maybe just me letting the novelty influence me a little too much.

Definitely going to check out their other records after this.

Favourite tracks: Thank You Friends, Jesus Christ, Kangaroo, Nighttime

As a "rock opera" and a concept album, this is pretty amateurish stuff, with really on-the-nose lyrics and a rambling, puerile story. That said, I understand that the very concept of a rock opera was a pretty new thing when this was made, so I suppose you can cut them some slack for fumbling the execution. An ambitious attempt, but not one that's stood the test of time compared to some of the acts that made their own attempts at the format in the decades following, at least in my view.

The music itself is a mixed bag, with some pretty good jams here and there, but it often feels like they're buried under swathes of mediocre, musically uninspired pieces that were only included on the album to fill out the story that Townshend wanted to tell. Honestly, I found myself enjoying the instrumental pieces more than anything, which I guess goes to show that their "rock opera" approach wasn't entirely without merit.

Final verdict: A significant album, but not a particularly great one.

Favourite tracks: Overture, Underture, Pinball Wizard, I'm Free

Didn't really enjoy this at all on my first listen, but I gave it one more go before giving my review and I've warmed up to it a little now. I think this could be a grower for me.

Favourite tracks: You're All I've Got Tonight, Just What I Needed, All Mixed Up

Fun album, though not something I'll probably come back to (because it's too passionate and joyful for my wretched ass)

This was a very pleasant listen that was perhaps just a little lacking in substance for my tastes. I've always been a big fan of music that fuses the techniques and instrumentation of classical, folk and pop music, so right from the first track I was drawn in by the eclectic mix of instruments on show. That theme continued throughout the whole record, so I certainly can't fault the inventiveness there; it was interesting (mostly) from start to finish.

The reason why I don't quite feel this album warrants a 5 is because, while there are a lot of beautiful musical ideas here, they're interspersed with, in my view, instances of aimless auditory rambling that can be common with avant-garde/jazz stuff. Which isn't to say that stuff has no value or anything, it's just not as interesting to me as tracks like, for instance, The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter and its melancholic exploration of loss and acceptance, which I find a lot more engaging on an emotional level. Maybe that's superficial of me, but oh well.

Favourite Tracks: Penguin Cafe Signal, In a Sydney Motel, Chartered Flight, The Sound of Someone You Love[...]

Probably the most I've enjoyed a reggae album, which isn't saying much as I've only listened to about 4 or 5. This was a pretty good groove though.

A great pop album that really refined Blur's distinctive sound, while also showcasing their ability to branch out into different genres with songs like To The End. It peaks a little early in its runtime for such a long album, but it's a fun, varied listen all the way through. What a ridiculous ear worm Boys & Girls is by the way.

A textbook 4.5/5 for me.

Favourite tracks: Boys & Girls, Tracy Jacks, Parklife, To The End, This Is a Low

Talented musicians, tedious music.

Not a terribly adventurous album in terms of song composition, but then again that's not really Dylan's game at the best of times. What he does excel at here though is painting pictures of love, longing, and loss through his lyrics. The songs here feel very personal, and even raw at times, though Dylan himself always insisted that was not the case and that the album wasn't autobiographical in any way. I guess that speaks to his prowess as a songwriter then, that he's able to invite those kind of assumptions through the stories he told (either that or he's just a big fat liar).

At the end of the day though, I'm not the hugest Dylan fan and I don't find his music to be something that I come back to all that often. Although I do appreciate his talents, I must admit he's an artist whose music I need to force myself to pay attention to otherwise I start zoning out. That said, there are tracks on this record that are able to make me sit up and pay attention on their own merits, so credit where it's due for that. Shelter From the Storm in particular I find to be quite a captivating listen.

Favourite tracks: Shelter From the Storm, Idiot Wind, If You See Her Say Hello

I've been vaguely aware of The Residents for many years now but always been put off of checking out their music due to their reputation of being extremely avant-garde and abrasive. Well, after listening to this album I can say that they are definitely both of those things, but they also know how to write catchy music, albeit under many layers of weirdness that most will find off-putting. It's like a collection of sinister nursery rhymes put to music that kind of makes you want to bop your head but mostly makes you want to jump out of your skin.

Something about this kind of reminds me of David Lynch's work with how it finds a way to resonate on a visceral level whilst remaining largely inscrutable when you try to take it all in. Maybe that's just a case of the subject matter going over my head though. My understanding is that there is a significant element of parody to The Residents' work, and I only really picked up on a few of the references here myself. I get the impression that these guys were significantly more cultured than I am, and that's probably reflected in the nature of the musical allusions they draw, but even so, I see that as just meaning that there's more to the record waiting for me to discover.

Favourite tracks: Constantinople, Bach Is Dead, Hello Skinny

I'm sure it all sounded very novel at the time, but it's almost impressive to me how such a short album can sound so samey. Most of the songs are pretty fun punk tracks in isolation, but listening to them all back to back leads to everything just blurring together.

Favourite tracks: Beat on the Brat, Let's Dance

The music's good but the quirk chungus lyrics sung in that breathy falsetto get very grating very quickly.