Reviews by mwatts1494

Calming

I found it hard to focus on this album so I'm going to review it as "background music".

It does feel a bit like I'm in a hotel lobby but it's a hipster boutique hotel and the other guests have impeccable taste.

Surprised myself enjoying this as much as I did. Yes it’s very 90s nostalgia now but it’s super consistent and I think her voice is so original for someone who sold truck loads of CDs.

I like this more than Joshua Tree
(🌴🌴/ 5).

They both fall off but this one falls off later (around track 7-8) and the big two singles are probably my favourite two U2 songs.

It’s got just about enough post-punk and a lack of sentimental BS to make me like U2 for 30 minutes. A high 🔫🔫🔫 / 5.

I get that this album has a good backstory, but for the most part, it sounds like older music dressed up in new wave clothes.

The production is very 80s even though it came out in 1979, so that's quite an innovative feat. But more like bad overproduced 80s mainstream rock music than minimal synth or jagged post-punk.

The last track was a jump scare - I can't tell if that is in a good or bad way.

Top-class cowboy music from strumming a guitar around a campfire to piano jams in the saloon.

I could see this rating going up with repeat listens as there's a lot going on here. But this is it for now.

I admire their commitment to a sound, I just don't like the sound that much. And Come On Eileen, as good as it is, I don't ever listen to on purpose.

\/\/ /\ |\| |<

If it was released in nineteen seventy something and the genres include "pop rock", I'm probably not going to like it. And I'm sorry Billy, this is no exception.

Absolute vibes

Everything came together for the band on this one. They consciously stripped away US roots music influences to created a British version of folk rock. Helped by Sandy Denny’s voice being so beautiful. Favourite song: Farewell Farewell

With the crowd work and the energy brought to the songs, probably one of the best live albums I’ve heard and the best Johnny Cash album.

I had a visceral negative reaction to this. There's something about expertly produced and brilliantly executed music that completely lacks personality or soul that makes me question whether I even like music.

I don't generally agree with cliches like "punk killed prog" and "grunge killed hair metal" as I don't think music trends work like that in reality - people just need black-and-white narratives to make sense of all the mess. But if punk needed to murder something in Britain in 1977, it's whatever this album is.

This reminds me a lot of being about 10 years old when I'd listen to my older brother's dance/rave music that he taped off the radio or his friends' cassettes.

It's clearly a bit dated to its time and place, and a bit all over the place.

3 AM Eternal is still a banger, but Last Train to Trancentral not the same as the single version?

Anyway, I can't give this less than 3.

🫳
🫸

They’ve really toned down their hardcore roots on this one and at times it sounds like Murmur-era REM. Overall there are a lot of good tracks here but not enough variety to sustain the run time. Zen Arcade should really have been the pick for the book.

My Aim Is Poo

This would be my favourite album of all time if I’d only heard albums from the eighties that sold over 20 million copies.

Nice and catchy and well-crafted but not much to sink your teeth into. Great for a bit of early 90s nostalgia.