Reviews by oldmancthc

Started off OK. I probably would've liked it if it was a single song, but the longer it continued, the more it sort of became a caricature of itself. By the end I felt like there was a joke somewhere that I wasn't getting. Quickly went from forgettable to off-putting.

Was pretty excited about his one. A Bowie album I'm not familiar with and with a description that sounded pretty cool. That being said, it's FAR from my favorite of his material. Experimentation is cool and all, but a lot of this just didn't do it for me.

I don't think I understand what I just listened to. It's all over the place style-wise. Sometimes twangy, sometimes adult contemporary, sometimes a weird soul experiment.

This starts off rough. Isi has a nice bouncy beat, but it's pretty one note. Seeland is somehow more interesting but more boring. Leb' Wohl is 9 miserable minutes of life I will never recapture. Things pick up here though, a lot! The entire back half from Hero through After eight is great. a couple punky guitar driven tracks with a spacey/droney jam in between.

This was released when I was 9 and I loved it. I knew nothing of what they had done previously at that age. In context, it's tough not to see this as Top's attempt to cash in on the '80s. The processed guitar tone and heavy reliance on a sequencer just cheapen what this band used to be. I'm glad they got some big hits out of it, and it has a lot of nostalgic value for me, but it pales compared to their previous material.

The similarity to ABBA is inescapable.

This rips! Great blues-fueled early punk.

Classic punk that I've never really given the proper attention to. Like this a lot.

Wow, this album starts off STRONG with three bangers everyone knows that basically define what I think of as "classic rock". It does slide a lot after that though. Slower, more ballad-esque tracks fill out the remainder of the album and I just lost interest entirely

Bought this album the day it came out and still listen to it regularly. Production is sparse compared to Fear Of A Black Planet (arguably the pinnacle of The Bomb Squad's work). I only learned recently that had more to do with lost digital recordings than it did a conscious choice. Whatever the reason, it works. Chuck's voice is on display here with no distractions, and it broadcasts a powerful and direct message. Even Flav's humor is laced with an obvious anger. I could go on for days about this album, but suffice to say it gets my vote for one of the '90s all around best.

This is the first cassette I ever completely wore out (and was devastated when I did). Very early influential album for me that is steeped in childhood memories. I still know almost every lyric on it, even the deeper cuts. That being said, I don't find that it aged well. It sounds really dated. Production is very '80s; sterile and synth heavy, which feels so wrong for a guitar based blues/rock band. Even the guitar tones are manipulated to sound like a synthesizer on many tracks. Really off-putting. The ballads are unlistenable.

Never liked many of James Taylor's hits, but I tried to give this a fair listen. Even I think Fire and Rain is great, and I don't think that's only because of how often I've heard it. Lo and Behold was a standout deeper cut that I'd never heard before. Better than I anticipated going in, but still didn't make me a fan.

Nostalgia allowed me to enjoy Our House, but the rest of this sounds like regional co-op art space musical theater (not a compliment.)

I hate this entire style of music and when I hear it I can still smell the drunk, 40-year old skinheads who tried to tell me how great it was when I was in high school.

I love Psych, but I don't love Pop... and there is a real fusion going on here between the two on much of this. It often sounds too approachable. Something about the melodies maybe? Moog experimentation gets some points from me, but it's primitive and a little rough. Don't hate it, but it's background music for me.

This rocks. Great album.

Classic nihilist punk from LA. This still rocks.

Weird one. It is ALL OVER THE PLACE as far as sound. It's not entirely bad, but completely comes off as a desperate novelty. I wish more of it sounded like Plaistow Patricia. Holy shit, I vividly remember Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll from early childhood, hearing it on Dr. Demento!

Mostly great upbeat vibes. Digging the rhythms. Standout track for me was Everyman's An Island, which felt like it had a big Dust Brothers influence that I didn't really hear anywhere else on this. All in all though, a lot of it just sounded like it needed something more to make it interesting.

Outside of the hits, I don't know this era of LZ as well as the first 4 albums. Liked this a lot more than I expected. Still heavily blues based and continuing to expand and innovate on that sound, while maintaining an obvious reverence for it. Really liked the smattering of psych peeking out on here, especially heard on In The Light.