Reviews by oldmancthc

Eh... Not as bad as I expected. I'm not a folk fan, but Joan does have a great voice.

I was a HUGE fan of REM for years when this was released and I bought this (with GREAT anticipation) the day it came out. I've listened to it countless times and even went to see them on the tour that supported the album. It's hard to do and difficult to say but if I separate myself from all that nostalgia, I have to admit that this just isn't a strong album when compared to their previous material. Production is cleaned up, pop sensibilities are MUCH more prominent, and in general their sound is shifting toward something more marketable and radio-friendly (ironic and sad considering the cynical message in Pop Song 89). Side B shifts more toward their original sound, but the damage is done.

Sounds like Irish folk music that was influenced by 80s goth pop. Truly awful.

This was a tough one for me. There were a few glimmers of hope here and there, showing that when he wants to, Framton can rock, but it just wasn't enough. Too often this just languished in a weird space, feeling too slowed down for rock, and too guitar based to totally rule it out as such. Mostly lost me on this one.

One of those bands I seldom listen to but am always blown away by when I do. Incredible use of dynamics; creating very delicate and soft moments that later explode with power. Few bands attempted this style and even fewer succeeded.

This does nothing for me. Vocal delivery is monotone and lifeless, completely lacking any emotion or inflection. Production sounds thin and empty, generic R&B with unnatural clicky beats. I truly do not understand those who claim this to be the greatest hip-hop album ever released.

I'd love to hate this because of the caricature of itself that Aerosmith turned into in the '80s and onward, but their '70s output is undeniably pretty great.

7th Dylan album I've had on this list. This one is pretty typical of what I expect from him. There were a couple of nice surprises. Masters of War is a masterpiece (though I prefer the Mark Arm cover because well... again, Dylan's voice.) Down The Highway with its foundation in delta style blues was cool too. The rest of the mumbly folk on here I'm ok with never hearing again.

Swings from hit to miss multiple times for me. Really love the trance-like moments as well as the trip-hop beats. The synth parts that sound like a John Carpenter score are also really cool. The more melodic vocal-heavy parts didn't do la lot for me. I think I might like their previous albums more based on that. This was definitely interesting enough to make me want to check out more.

Fun, experimental yet approachable, and psychedelic. I like this! Definitely something I see myself listening to again.

I hate this type of music. It's performative depression set to music. Why do so many people try to tell me how great this is?

Great flow. Great lyrics. This is basically local hip-hop for me and I had never heard of it. That's a shame because it's great.

Some good stuff here. Some weirdo stuff too that misses the mark a bit. Typical Kinks-worship Brit-pop at times with almost equal attention given to experimentation outside that box as well. Maybe not their best album, but still a fun listen.

Fun listen once. Probably would've been GREAT to see live. Honestly I couldn't see it getting a lot of multiple plays though.

My GOD this is awful, self-indulgent, schlock. I absolutely abhor this type of music, but if you enjoy it, there are hundreds of artists out there doing it better.

Weird one for Eno. I guess this is his "rock" album? Music is mostly solid. A lot of really interesting moments on the front half that have a rock/funk/soul feel going on. I find that his vocals never really fit what I'm hearing though. They just always sound... wrong somehow. Back half is more what I expect from Eno. I'll probably spend a little more time with this to be honest. Here He Comes, with its twangy country sound is probably the only song I'd skip on future listens.

Metal influenced industrial... Yeah, I'm here for it.

This mostly rocked. Good grooves on some of the more straight forward stuff. Vocals on Peking O were basically unlistenable, but other than that I enjoyed the more experimental parts as well. Tough one to really sum up, and definitely going to require multiple listens to really get. I like an album that makes me think.

Classic proto-punk. The foundational inspiration to more than half my usual listening.

This feels like it's trying to be weird just for the sake of being weird. When it's not doing that it's just a big snooze-fest. Starting to resent the large amount of lackluster garbage on this list that's there just because it was made by Brits. This is entirely forgettable.