Reviews by nofaithmed11

Despite liking the majority of their albums, this one towers over everything else for me. They sound bigger and more powerful than they had before, but they do so without sacrificing a shred of musicality or identity. They still clearly sound like R.E.M., and for my money, they sound like the absolute best version of R.E.M. Stipe’s vocals (and Mills’, for that matter) are confident and dynamic, the band is locked in and firing on all cylinders, and the songwriting is top-notch. In addition to the two big hits, I’ll never tire of “Finest Worksong” and “Exhuming McCarthy” in particular. This one’s an easy 5 stars for me; on some days, it challenges Rain Dogs as my favorite album of the decade.

5/5

Goddamn, this is REALLY fucking cool. Not at all what I was expecting. Insane mix of jazz and classical. I need to learn more about this. Lots of room to grow here.

4/5

I don’t like it as much as I “should”, and I seem to be in the minority in thinking that “Beauty and the Beast” is lame as hell. However, the title track is an all-timer, and I actually quite like a lot of the ambient stuff.

3.5/5

It’s Bland!

2/5

Pre-listen: I’m so fucking sick of so many fucking 80’s albums. I hope I’m wrong and I look/sound like an idiot, but oh my god, it feels like every other album is from this wretched decade.

Post-listen: nope, wasn’t wrong. More terribly boring and dated music to be filed away under the worst, most pretentious genre name: “sophisti-pop.” Spare me your declarations of how “intelligent” it is. “Someone Somewhere” isn’t the worst leadoff track, the energy of “Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel” is somewhat interesting, and the bass line on “Glittering Prize” rips. But I really don’t understand the appeal of this production or general style 99% of the time, and although Jim Kerr is not a terrible vocalist, he’s terribly anonymous, and that may be even worse.

2.5/5

All these songs are way too long, Paul Buchanan doesn’t sound as good as he does on Hats, and I just don’t like this production. Blegh.

2/5

Clearly a talented writer, but it’s a little too hammy for me.

3/5

Evans was an amazing player and musical mind; there's a reason that Miles entrusted him to man the piano for Kind of Blue. His work on that record speaks for itself, as does his work on Oliver Nelson's The Blues & The Abstract Truth and quite a bit of his solo material. And yet, while I find albums like Sunday at the Village Vanguard perfectly easy and enjoyable to listen to, I don't find him as engaging as many other pianists when it comes to leading a trio. As some people here have pointed out, the late, great Scott LaFaro often appears to be the MVP of this performance (a claim that Evans himself might not have disputed), but with all due respect to him, I want to hear Evans handle a little bit more of the heavy lifting. Which isn't to say that Bill isn't amazing; I think his playing on "Gloria's Step" and "Alice in Wonderland", in particular, is spectacular. I just don't think, especially at this point in his career, he was the most charismatic performer, and while I don't want/need him to be Jerry Lee Lewis behind the piano, I find myself gravitating toward people like Red Garland, Ahmad Jamal, and a host of other pianists when I consider who I'd prefer to hear in this environment. Still, good stuff.

3.5/5

I can tell this is very well done. I just don't particularly like it.

2/5

Not *quite* perfect (he gets there on the next record), but still pretty fucking awesome.

4.5/5

Likely my second favorite Neil studio record. Love everything about it.

5/5

This was totally fine, professional, pleasant, and inoffensive. But I did absolutely not need to hear this before dying.

3/5

Sorry, y’all. I just don’t know how anyone takes this music (or at least these vocals) seriously.

1.5/5

Very good and pleasant. Not sure how much I ever need to hear it again.

3/5

Meh. Some great stuff here and he’s obviously a hell of a producer, but I won’t ever return to this. My ceiling for hip-hop strikes again.

3/5

It’s too long, but man, so much of it is fucking awesome. One of my highest 4 star ratings so far, could easily be 4.5 one day.

4/5

“Them Changes” rules. There’s a lot of care and talent put into this. It’s just not my thing overall.

2.5/5

Fuck, this is incredibly good. Could be a true 5-star album for me someday. For now, it's just on the edge, but enough to get the bump here.

4.5/5

Part #625 of “I don’t like this as much as I’m supposed to.” But I do like it. And I LOVE “Cherub Rock”. Just not an all-time favorite.

3.5/5

Just so damn good. “Coyote”, “Amelia”, “Furry Sings the Blues”, “Blue Motel Room”…perfect songs. I’m honestly not a huge Jaco fan, but his presence here doesn’t even bother me. Probably only my 4th favorite Joni record, which speaks to her complete excellence.

4.5/5