Reviews by nevele

13-in-a-dozen, rock by numbers

One good song and one decent song doesn't take away that the rest is just not good enough.

It has been an interesting listen. In my early twenty's I had a lot of friends listening to GOA trance and Drum 'n' Bass. So I was aware how influential this album was.
It doesn't mean it's a really good album though.

How has this just gone straight past me all these years?

I would've loved this in the 90's, and enjoy it even more today. I can hear where a lot of my current favourite (post-rock) bands like Mogwai learned the trade.

And if there ever was an album that deserved the 'rough diamond' moniker, it's this one. The music is not easy to get through on first listen, but after a few listens, more and more is revealed between the grimy layers of guitar, dark lyrics and almost illogical drumplay.

One of the most tensive and captivating albums I've heard. What a discovery.

I can understand why this is being seen as such a pivotal album in HipHop history and Kanye's career.
This is his Magnum Opus and it has all gone downhill from here, music and sanity wise. I think the balance was found here.

There were a few songs on this album that were absolutely blowing my socks off, with Xplosion as the number 1. Also songs like Gasoline Dreams, B.O.B. and Ms Jackson will be in personal playlists going forward.
But a few really outstanding songs don't make a good album I'm afraid. I know the skits are part of the whole hiphop thing, but my god, they're annoying and not funny. They add nothing to the album. And some songs just don't reach even half the heights that the top songs do.
I enjoyed listening to it though, and this has certainly peaked my interest to listen to more of their work. I'll start at the start of their discography tomorrow.

Fuck Yeah

It can't be overstated how important this album has been for music history.

On Bone Machine Tom Waits lets go of everything and is no longer limited by anything. This results in an intense album with primary music. Rhythms that sound like they're making use of anything that can be hit on. Strange vocals between screeching, growling and just singing. But it's also a beautiful album, although you have to put in a little bit of effort for it.

This, to me, is one of the best records of all time. A sample card. Moving (Whistle down the Wind), Romantic Dark (Black Wings) Existential (Dirt in the Ground), even poppy sometimes (I don't wanna grow up).
And all on bordering between genius and madness. Dark but not depressing.

A masterpiece.

I really enjoyed the second half of this album more than the first, but it's been a very pleasant listen all round

This was an absolute joy. Powerful jazz mixed with afrobeat and with a message to boot.

Genuinely gave it 4 good listens over the last day and today, and can now - again - say that Linkin Park is not for me.
I was 20 when this came out, and back then this music didn't resonate with me either.
In my early 20's this album, and Linkin Park in general, felt so fake and plastic. The methodical songwriting with which all songs end up with the same song structure combined with the wall of sound production and the overly processed guitars irked me and felt soulless.

Not to mention the lyrics filled with platitudes and generalities. I understand how people can feel attracted to it, but it wasn't my kind of teenage angst.

It's not music I turn off when it's on the radio, but certainly not something I enjoy putting on myself.

Being the first certainly doesn't mean it's also the best

A really decent hiphop album with a lot of influence from Clintons P-Funk

She really is country royalty and this was an album I didn't dislike at all.

"Out with the truckers, the kickers and the cowboys" ... *skip*

Nope.

It picks up a little bit after that first atrocious song, but I haven't found too many redeeming factors on this album. A lot of it is stockstandard country, with a little interesting step-outs to bluegrass and Rock&Roll.

Gram Parsons life was a lot more interesting than his music.

3 days apart from each other (thank you randomizer), I've given both "Master Of Puppets" and "...And Justice For All" a good few (re-)listens and have to admit that this one really falls short in comparison.

Both albums, like 'Ride The Lightning' before that are built along the same premise:
1) Start the album with a fast and heavy song
2) Bring a few of the epics (8 to 9 minute songs) interspersed with some slower songs
3) Bring out one instrumental
4) Finish with a fast and heavy banger

But while Metallica went from the Thrash to more Black Sabbath-like rhythms, the songwriting remains great, it's the tinny and empty production sound that really stops this album from being a masterpiece. Without Bass, without soul, without input besides Lars and James.

In my memory this album had a lot more synthesizers than I hear when now re-listening this for the 1001.
I realized the synths in my memory were actually heavy processed guitars, underlined with an almost drumcomputer-like beat.

In comparison to La Grange, which I previously had on this list, this feels like a huge step back musically, but I'm glad they got the money and fame they were due.

Master Of Puppets was released in 1986 and improved on the sound of Ride The Lightning. Production and songwriting have been perfected and missteps like Escape have not made the cut like on its predecessor. Even the structure of the album is almost identical. The first track Battery hits right in after a quiet intro. Metallica at its loudest.

The title track, as well as Disposable Heroes, with their eight+ minutes, are epic songs in which everything comes together. Hard, fast riffs, a quiet passage with beautiful melodies and a lightning fast solo by Kirk Hammett.

The quiet Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is then a ballad with a somewhat harder chorus and beautiful guitar solos that eventually builds to a great climax.

The instrumental Orion is another highlight. Atmospheric, chock full of riffs and solos and a real bass solo from Cliff Burton. Burton also opens the album's closer, Damage, Inc. With this sledgehammer blow, the album is closed even more furiously than it opened.

Metallica would never reach the level of this album again. Master Of Puppets is still regarded as one of the best and most influential metal albums. The metal album everyone should know.

The title song is the best the Simple Minda have ever made. Such a great song.