Reviews by nevele

This is 13 songs and 27 minutes of brash, no-nonsense pub punk. It sits squarely in Australia’s pub-punk lineage, with the Cosmic Psychos looming large.
The band is noticeably tighter than on their debut, and that helps the songs land better. The trade-off is that the surprise and freshness of the first album are mostly gone. Lyrically, it’s the same stuff: drinking, being broke, working-class frustration. “Panic Attack” is my highlight, and most tracks are catchy enough for me to shout along to without thinking too hard.
There’s no real variation here and nothing particularly new. This sound has existed since the late ’70s, and plenty of bands have done it earlier or better. By critical standards, this isn’t especially strong, but I have a weak spot for music like this, and it’s hard not to enjoy while it’s on.
A fun, solid listen, but honestly, it doesn’t belong on a 1001 Albums list.

The musical equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting

Scrappy, wobbly indie-rock from Cincinnati. Lo-fi production, dual vocals, clear influences: REM, Bettie Serveert, Pixies, Velvet Underground, Undertones. Feels like a 90s throwback.

"Funeral Dress" stands out, partly because of that Blondie-esque melody (it's "One Way Or Another" but then slowed down). "Soak It Up" has echoes of Velvet Underground and Bettie Serveert. "Yellow Cotton Dress" registers as another decent moment.
The problem for me is the songwriting. It's pleasant while it's on, but nothing sticks after it's over. The sound is fine. Lo-fi doesn't bother me at all. But the songs themselves are forgettable. They wear their influences clearly but don't carve out their own identity.
Competent but unremarkable.

'Battleflag' and 'Vision Indicision' are marvellous,
Important band in the genre, but not strong on the whole album

This started like your average British 70s blues-rock album, but it shifts. Unlike most blues-rock this is not about about flashy solos, but about setting mood: grinding riffs, distortion, repetition, proto-doom textures.

Side B is where it really clicked for me. Later in the album, it sounds more Sabbath than UK blues. The anti-war rhetoric is blunt and straightforward, and it works because the lyrics and music push each other upward. The album works as a journey. It starts on one side and slowly drags you into the darker side of music.

"Garden" is my standout, and "Eccentric Man" (covered by Queens of the Stone Age for good reason) shows the proto-stoner rock connections clearly. A solid album that might grow higher over time.
You can hear the change happening live on this record: the shift from blues-rock into what would become stoner and doom. Not essential for everyone, but absolutely essential if you want to understand where that lineage started.

I'm joining the chorus of voices here saying we don't need more Springsteen or 2-hour live albums on this list.

HOWEVER: This recording is phenomenal, so I can't give it a low score. The raw energy, the interplay of and with the E-Street Band, the sheer power of Springsteen's still-young voice. A live recording that truly surpasses the studio versions of the songs.

Porcupine Tree was one of the modern juggernauts of prog-rock. Subtle musicianship, incredibly detailed compositions, atmosphere that leans melancholic and dark. This album is inspired by Bret Easton Ellis's Lunar Park, telling the story of a kid overwhelmed by mass media and technology. Many lyrics are borrowed directly from the book.

In 2007, I thought this was superb. Then I lost interest. Not in this album specifically, but in prog-rock generally. Too much of it is fret-wanking without emotion, just musicians showing off. Revisiting this now, it's stood the test of time. The darkness and bleakness work. The theme feels even more relevant in 2025.

Steven Wilson isn't the flashiest guitarist, but the drummer (Gavin Harrison) is exceptional, and the atmosphere is what makes it work.

A strong album. Personally a 4-star experience, but objectively? This is an essential album for the style. Absolutely belongs on a 1001 albums list.

This is much rockier and less metal than I expected, but in the best way. Dreamy but loud and intense. Mastodon pushed technical boundaries on earlier albums; here they're all about mystery, depth, emotion, and atmosphere.
"Quintessence" opens epically and shifts into progressive grooves with vocals that elevate everything. "The Czar" reminds me of Opeth. "The Last Baron" goes off at 13 minutes and earns every second. "Oblivion" and "The Ghost of Karelia" also stand out.
The production is thick and full. Every layer is audible, which makes for an incredible listening experience, but also a tiring one. It demands your full attention in a way that's both a strength and a limitation. I might not always reach for this even though I have starting to really love this album, simply because it's so dense and exhausting.
The vocals took some getting used to as well. Multiple singers, none technically great, plus guest vocals. But it all works perfectly for the vibe.
Way better than I expected. A killer album that rewards the effort it demands.
4,5*

Jesse Lacey groomed underage fans. Let's get that out of the way—he's a piece of shit. But this is about the album.

The album opens with emo screams that hit fast, then stumbles into simplistic territory with "Millstone" (saved only by the basslines). "Jesus Christ" pulls it back with a slow build and stronger lyrics. It feels like two different bands fighting for control.
Then something shifts. "Limousine" is haunting, almost reminds me of Pulp's This Is Hardcore era—sparse, sad, lyrically heavy. "You Won't Know" nails the darker indie-rock thing with eerie guitars that lean toward Modest Mouse and Nirvana. The emo screams actually fit here. Four endings, driving intensity. "Welcome To Bangkok" is just noise and sonic waves—instrumental and effective. These four tracks in a row are impressive.
Then "Not The Sun" arrives like a bad Placebo/Linkin Park rip-off and nearly derails everything. "Luca" recovers with Pink Floyd-style guitars that break wide open. Reminds me of The God Machine. "Archers" is a decent singalong, but "Handcuffs" feels like a strange closer. Not bad, just not as emotionally strong as the rest. The violin overdoes it.
Uneven, but when it works, it really works. A good listen.

I went into this with high expectations, mostly because “Feather” is such a great track. And while Modal Soul is undeniably pleasant, it mostly fades into the background for me. It sits almost permanently in the “incredibly relaxed” zone, but rarely reaches anything truly impressive.

“Feather” is the clear highlight. The combination of piano and rap works beautifully, as it often does. After that, the album loses momentum. Much of it feels like simple jazz tunes with a beat, enjoyable enough, but not especially memorable. It starts to feel a bit bland.

There are exceptions. “Eclipse” and “The Sign” stand out thanks to the raps and spoken word. “Flowers” and “Music Is Mine” are the strongest instrumentals here, with more interesting jazz textures and structure than the rest. Unfortunately, many of the other instrumental tracks lack substance.

Overall, it’s a calm, easy listen, but too relaxed for its own good. Pleasant rather than striking. A solid three-star album for me.

The question going in was whether this is just "Midnight City" and filler, or if the whole double album earns its 73-minute runtime.

"Midnight City" definitely does heavy lifting, but there are other strong moments. "Reunion" and "Claudia Lewis" both stood out. The 80s influence is all over this (Mr. Mister, Tears for Fears) and I didn't mind that at all. The ambient stretches worked fine too.

The problem is double album bloat. Cut this down to 35-40 minutes, lose over half the tracks, and you'd have a genuinely great album. Maybe 4 to 4.5 stars. But as it stands, too much just washes past without sticking. It's pleasant, never annoying, but not concise enough to be essential.

The ideas are there. They're just buried under too much runtime. A solid listen that never bugs you but never fully grabs you either

This is an underrated album by an underrated band. Quicksand were compared to early Tool back in the 90s, but they're much closer to a mix of Helmet and Fugazi. Sharp, energetic, melodic post-hardcore that deserved more attention than it ever got. The riffs are tight, the rhythm section is locked in, and there's real melody underneath all the aggression.

R.I.P. Weezer, 1992-1997

The cover is iconic. Sexy, classy, endlessly parodied ( https://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2011/12/03/cover-versions/ ).

It's held up better than the music, which is pleasant, polished, and completely forgettable. This is easy-listening instrumental pop at its most inoffensive. Nothing about it is bad, but nothing about it sticks either. It just passes through you.
Herb Alpert clearly had talent (his trumpet work on David Baerwald's "A Secret Silken World" proves he could get darker and weirder), but here he's playing it safe. Background music for cocktail parties, designed to be heard but not really listened to.

First listen felt slow. The country lean of some songs didn’t land, and the music and lyrics seemed like two separate things. But once I started paying attention to what Oberst was actually saying, everything shifted.

This album is dark, bleak, often painful, but never quite hopeless. There's frustration with life and the state of the world woven through every song. The storytelling tracks lean into sadness, while the more personal ones have defiance underneath the despair. “Road to Joy” twists Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” into something almost apocalyptic, and lines like “I will fight like hell to hide that I’m giving up” hit with real weight.

For me, Side B is where it truly comes together. “First Day of My Life,” “Poison Oak,” “Road to Joy,” “Land Locked Blues.” That’s where the emotional honesty, the writing, and the music finally lock into the same place. Oberst’s voice feels raw without tipping into theatrics.

This isn’t background music. It asks for your attention, and the more you sit with it, the more it rewards you. It's a grower, and it rewards the effort. I'll be returning to this, and it might grow into a 5* album

This is exactly what you thought it would be. A few standout singles and a lot of filler. "The Distance" (interestingly, the only song written by guitarist Greg Brown) is far and away the best track here, with "Frank Sinatra," "I Will Survive," and "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" also landing well.
Those couple of excellent tracks keep Fashion Nugget from mediocrity, but 50 minutes of CAKE... is a little too much CAKE

This album is ridiculously front-loaded. The first four tracks are pure pop muscle. “Paparazzi” still hits hard. “Poker Face” remains one of the most unkillable singles of the century. You can’t sit still through it. You can’t not sing along. And thinking that Gaga was only twenty-one when she made something this polished is wild. Those opening tracks are bangers, no two ways about it.
Then “Eh Eh” arrives and it kinda goes limp after that.
I do have a soft spot for Lady Gaga. Not just the performance art and the deliberate theatricality, but her whole public self: the acting, the warmth, the work she does through Born This Way. She’s a genuinely good human who happens to also be a real singer. That matters. But it doesn’t save the back 2/3 of The Fame.

You could make a killer 6-song EP out of this and lose nothing of value.

After the opening salvo, the album sinks into the forgettable. Some tracks are fine (“Money Honey”). Some are actively bad (“Starstruck” really is awful). And for someone who later built her identity on shapeshifting, this record weirdly sounds like the same idea over and over again. As individual songs, a lot of them still work. As a full album, it gets old fast. By the final few tracks I was fighting the urge to skip. The harsh autotune on “Starstruck” and “Paper Gangsta” really grates the ears.

Still, this is the foundation everything else was built on. You can hear the blueprint for the superstar she would become, even if she hadn’t figured out how to transcend club-pop yet. It’s nowhere near her best work, but its cultural impact is undeniable. A debut this iconic belongs on a list like 1001 Albums.

California is easily Mr. Bungle’s most accessible album, but “accessible” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. It’s still Mr. Bungle. Which means it’s a wild, colourful hodgepodge of styles that bounce in every direction at once. Surf rock, lounge pop, exotica, little explosions of chaos… and somehow it all holds together as their strongest, most cohesive record.

The strange thing is how immediately it works. Play this at a party and you get two reactions: one person begging you to turn it off right now, and another person lighting up, demanding to know what on earth this is and whether you can play more. That split makes perfect sense. This is pop music filtered through a cracked funhouse mirror, melodic and theatrical and completely unbothered by genre boundaries.

For me, California is the sweet spot where all their ideas land. It still has the band’s trademark madness, but shaped into songs that feel deliberate, catchy, and oddly beautiful.

I get why Canadians who heard this at the right age still love it. But coming to it fresh in 2025, Gordon is a rough listen. It's cheesy, iand very safe. The band is clearly talented. They can write, they can play. But the taste in songs behind it makes my toes curl.

There are genuine moments here. "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" and "Brian Wilson" show that Barenaked Ladies can land a touching ballad when they stop clowning around. "Crazy" is a wild, melodic closer that almost makes you forgive what came before it.

The rest is hard to get through. Some songs have decent lyrics but collapse into limp white-boy ska. Other songs are completely safe 13-in-a-dozen 80's rock songs, like The Box.

For all the genre-hopping and energy, Gordon feels oddly safe. They keep switching lanes, yet the results are both obnoxious and formulaic. There’s real skill here, but it’s wrapped in a relentlessly twee sensibility. A handful of lovely moments can’t save the ordeal of sitting through the rest.

A fascinating but uneven album. The production is often incredible: thick bass, sharp beats, and a lot of creative ideas in the arrangements. At its best the music feels adventurous and charged with emotion. At its worst the constant abrupt shifts work against the songs and break the flow of the album.

The darker tracks about loneliness, depression, and trying to find meaning hit hardest. The whole Party to the Urn section is genuinely excellent. The romantic songs feel thinner and a bit simplistic in comparison, which might be deliberate, but it still weakens the record.

Overall this feels like a transitional album. There is so much ambition here, and when it comes together it sounds great, but you can also hear him reaching for something he would perfect more fully on Awaken, My Love!.