Reviews by nofaithmed11

I think this is a supremely cool record. Nice and diverse. Martyn's guitar work is excellent, and I don't have any problems with him vocally; he gives me Mark Knopfler and JJ Cale vibes at times, albeit a bit more expressive. "Dealer", the title track, "Big Muff", and "Small Hours" are my favorites at the moment, but I dig everything well enough. This could rise for me in the future.

4/5

Stellar, and oh so close to the 5-star bump on this site. Give us half-star rankings!!

4.5/5

I've been curious about Wyatt for a bit, but this is my first album of his - I haven't even heard any full Soft Machine records, to my knowledge. I think he strikes a number of balances on this record: it's experimental and quirky, but he never strays too far from either a solid melody or interesting musical figure. There's a bit of blues, a bit of baroque pop, a bit of free jazz, and every now and then, you can tell he's keyed into some of the popular production stylings of the day. I can tell there are a lot of great lyrical ideas here, too, though I'll need a few more listens to catch everything that's going on there. I've made my jokes about struggling with too much ~British whimsy~ in music, and Wyatt is surely a potential culprit to fall into that, but when the music is this wonky and weird, it definitely doesn't bother me that much. Excited to keep revisiting this one.

4/5

There’s a slipshod element to this “album”, given the range of recording dates, and as much as I like this era of R&B, it’s definitely not my go-to by any means. Still, Burke sounds amazing, and I’d definitely be interested in checking out more of his work someday.

3.5/5

Mustaine actually annoyed me slightly less on this record than he did on Countdown to Extinction, but I still find him pretty difficult to listen to. I also found this record a bit tighter musically on both an arrangement and production level. Overall, though, I can only acknowledge my own failings to hear what is cool, badass, or appealing about this.

2/5

I've always really loved "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", admired Bert Jansch's artistry, and been intrigued by the all-acoustic-instruments approach of this record. Maybe it's just because I'm already an established fan of some other (in my opinion) superior recordings of "The Cuckoo", "House Carpenter", and "Once I Had a Sweetheart", but I found myself quite underwhelmed with this album on first listen. Jacqui McShee's vocals consistently come across a bit too precious for me, and although I know comparison is the thief of joy, I often found myself wishing I was just listening to Fairport Convention instead.

3/5

Side B leans a little heavy on the ballads for my liking, and I know I prefer at least a couple other albums of hers, but the best stuff is undeniably great.

4/5

Supremely cool blend of rock, blues, hip-hop, folk, electronica, and whatever else pops into Beck's head. Great arrangements and production. Not an album I've ever gone back to a whole lot, but I've always dug it.

4/5

I respect it *slightly* more than I actually enjoy it, but I still do enjoy it.

3.5/5

Buddy Holly holds such a special place in my heart for numerous reasons. He’s rivaled by only Chuck Berry as my favorite of the original rock and roll guard, if you will. His melodies are unbelievably strong, his voice is inviting, the Crickets are a solid backing group, and his lyrics are just sweet enough without feeling too coy. As is the case with so many rock “albums” that were released/thrown together before the mid-60’s, the big singles and hits thoroughly outshine the deep cuts for me. But I’ll be damned if I don’t absolutely love “Oh Boy!”, “That’ll Be the Day”, “Maybe Baby”, and especially “Not Fade Away”, which I will contend is not only still the definitive version (with all due respect to the Stones, Dead, and others who have produced great covers), but as perfect a 2 minute and 20 second recording that has ever existed.

4/5

Fun, dark, dirty, sensual.

4/5

It’s hard to say I dislike any of this, and some of the sax work in particular stood out to me (shoutouts to Johnny Griffin and Cannonball Adderley, two of the GOATs). But this is definitely far from my favorite brand of jazz, and definitely could have been a few tracks shorter.

3/5

An absolutely perfect record by any measure, just one that I only have so much of an attachment to.

4/5

He sounds like the Bob that everyone does an impression of, but when he's delivering some of the greatest songs ever written, it couldn't matter less. Totally masterful.

5/5

A couple of filler tracks on side A unfortunately bring it down just a touch, but man, the good stuff here is unreal.

4/5

Whenever I consider my seemingly unfounded hesitancy to check out Devo, I always forget about how much I love "Uncontrollable Urge". What a killer tune. There are actually quite a few killer tunes here: "Space Junk", "Mongoloid", and "Gut Feeling / (Slap Your Mammy)" all do it for me quite a bit. I think they strike a pretty great balance on this record of humor, energy, quirkiness, and accessibility. Also, I know I've heard this "Satisfaction" cover before, but it really stood out to me as a highlight this time around; it takes a lot of balls not just to cover such an iconic song, but completely turn it on its head, and I think they succeed with flying colors here. The one more well-known song here that I'm not as high on is "Jocko Homo", but I don't have too many complaints past that. Interested to keep returning to this one and see how/if my opinions evolve.

4/5

I get why most people hate this, but I think it's relatively cool. Great production.

3.5/5

I'm still somewhat of a Stevie agnostic in terms of personal enjoyment, and there are a handful of moments on this record that are a bit smooth for my liking, but there's quite a bit on here that I really love. "Maybe Your Baby" and "Superstition" are obviously the big funky highlights (the latter has never grown old for me); "You and I" is one of my favorite ballads of his; "Big Brother" has one of my favorite arrangements on the record; "I Believe" is fantastic and an excellent album closer. This is a damn high 3.5 that could potentially rise in my estimations one day.

3.5/5

"Leave Home" is a great opener, and I think it hits a decent groove in the second half of the album as well. "Chico's Groove" and "One Too Many Mornings" both change things up nicely with slightly chiller soundscapes, "Playground for a Wedgeless Firm" has a cool crime scene soundtrack vibe, and as a fan of Beth Orton, her feature on "Alive Alone" was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, tracks 2-6 drag it down quite a bit for me, lending to a bit of that "trapped at a party I can't escape" feeling.

2.5/5

Not my favorite Coltrane record to be honest - the real jazz snobs might bristle at my preference for the safer Blue Train - but still magnificent. Otherworldly playing by everyone involved, though Trane’s passion shines through the brightest. I love it supremely.

5/5