Reviews by oldmancthc

Perfect example of an outlier for me. As I have mentioned many times before, I really do not care for most singer/songwriter, storyteller with an acoustic guitar type of music. But this is great. Drake's voice is instantly recognizable and sounds perfect with the subdued almost classical-style guitar work. I worked a job in the mid-'90s where this album played DAILY, and I still really enjoy it.

In general, I really can't stand the "storyteller with an acoustic guitar" genre. Paul Simon is no exception. Bores me to tears. Opening up with the whitest reggae imaginable at least gave me a good laugh. One point because Julio is a damn good song... album could've just been a single.

REALLY starting to wonder about this list. There seems to be so much throwaway electronic dance music from the UK on here. There is nothing timeless or special about any of it. This is a perfect example here. It's not terrible, but it's just boring. It's background music for when you don't want to be distracted by anything challenging. Impossible to get excited about any of it because it's like window dressing. The more of this I hear the more I hate the entire style. For fuck's sake, please team up with someone who can write rhymes and has some flow and just be a hip-hop project instead of this monotonous drivel.

LOVE this band. Great upbeat and funky soul here. Impossible not to move when you hear this.

Good background music. Keeps my head bopping to the rhythm, but as usual with this type of music, I get bored fast. Really feels empty without an MC with good flow, rhyming over the top.

Not as awful as Kid A That shit was so pompous in the most masterbatory way. Right off the bat, this is better, almost tolerable (well, in the front half at least). That said, it's still over-the-top whiney pretension, and I'd never want to hear it again if given the choice.

Twangy roots apparently isn't my thing. Thought I'd like this but too often it just reminded me of the Grateful Dead.

Another one I enjoyed more I expected to. Interesting fusion of styles. The vibraphone is on almost every track and used in ways I’ve never heard before. Definitely inspires a relisten.

Wasn't really my thing, but had its moments. I don't like as much as earlier material, but it's not something I'd hate on.

If there is ONE THING my old hippie friends all insisted on when they learned I hated The Dead, it was "You have to hear their LIVE recordings!" Well, turns out they were mostly right. While it certainly didn't make me a fan, this is probably the most interesting recording of theirs that I've heard. Still not my thing, and I'm OK with that.

Personal bias has stopped me from listening to this band most of my life. Had a girlfriend in early college who listened to nothing but The Dead and The Allman Brothers. At the time I was firmly entrenched in hardcore punk and was simply unable to give them a chance. Honestly, this is a solid blues album. I understand why they get lumped in with The Dead, but I find this WAY more interesting than anything I've heard from the aforementioned.

Man, this shit really sucks.

Hmm, not at all what I expected from John Cale. Very approachable, dare I say, poppy melody here... That being said, it lacks a certain something. Seems kind of dispassionate. Well performed, just not having much that draws me in and makes me want to listen to it more.

This album was inescapable when I was 10 years old, and honestly I would have been fine NEVER hearing anything from it again, but here we are. I am not a Springsteen fan. I hate his voice. I hate his story-telling style of lyric writing. I hate how much he wishes he was Bob Dylan (who I also hate). But mostly, and specific to this album, I HATE that the average American flag waving douche-bag still regards Born In The U.S.A. as a fist-pumping patriotic anthem. Cover Me is probably the closest I've ever come to enjoying a Springsteen song though, so points for that I guess.

Liking a lot of this. The tabla and flute work is fantastic, and fusing it all with drum-machine dance beats and bass drops is kinda wild. Not sure this will become something I listen to often, but I really dig how different it sounds.

One of those bands I tend to think of as too folksy for my tastes, but honestly this album was really great. Classic tunes.

Not my favorite Marley and the Wailers material by far, but it does contain a lot of very well known and "Classic" tunes. Hard for me to separate this from the rich. white, pseudo-hippies I went to high school and college with, but it undeniably is some really strong roots reggae.

Had to listen to this 4 times before I felt (mostly) ready to give it a rating. I don't think I've ever had this kind of reaction to an album before and I view that as a very positive thing. Sometimes it's dancey proto-acid house, sometimes it's got big-band vibes, other times free jazz, then it just decides to go full exotica. This is the kind of album I'll think about when I can't sleep, pondering it like an unsolvable riddle. I'm not SURE I love it. but it deserves 5 stars just for how long its made me consider things.

This is pretty rough. I respect the unique idea and experimentation, but this just falls flat for me. It comes off as a total novelty.

Top 3 Maiden records for me. This is non-stop bangers from start to finish. Band is in its absolute prime here!