Reviews by oldmancthc

This fucking ROCKS like nothing else can. Fela is the MAN, and basically invented Afrobeat. The Africa '70 is phenomenal, untouchable in their talent. Find a version with the bonus track that is just a Ginger and Tony Allen doing a 16 minute drum solo. God damn I could listen to this all day!

Solid '90s alterno/grunge rock with a 70's psych influence. It's not something the gets me super jazzed, but I do like it. Music rocks at times, but a lot of it is mid-tempo jams that blend with the melodic vocals into something that causes me to lose focus easily. I do feel like it would probably grow on me with repeated listens.

Never liked the term "shoegaze" but I do like most music that falls under the umbrella. The droning wall of noise here is great. Vocals and melodies feel very brit-pop before it was really a thing. Sounds like something that would be absolutely immersive (in the best way) played live. My only complaint is I find it easy to drift off in thought while listening to it rather than maintain focus on it. Typical of this type of music, and inarguably more of a me problem. This will definitely be something I listen to again. Seems like it would be really good for long drives alone.

Didn't know anything about this band previous to listening except that Alex Chilton was a member. The upbeat tracks are great, and feel really ahead of their time, but there is just SO MUCH slow and depressing music on this album that it's really hard to enjoy. It's well played and I can appreciate that but god damn it, I don't need another reason to be down in the dumps. Not enough rock here.

Right from the jump this is an AMAZING headphone album. The layering of sound, the organ and guitar competing in seperate channels, and the ebb and flow of dynamics in Walk on By is just an unbeatable sonic experience. The party continues through Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic, then Isaac slows everything down for side B, into what can only be described as his patented "fucking music". The man is a deserved legend and this release is a perfect example of why.

Was NOT a fan when this was released. It's definitely grown on me over the years and it certainly rocks. Still, something about it just doesn't fully hit for me. I think it's Axl's voice. I was surprised to recognize EVERY song here despite thinking I'd never listened to this straight through before. It's fine... I like it... I just don't hold it as the rock 'n' roll masterpiece others do. I certainly can't deny that if anything from it starts playing in public, I'll rock along to it.

One the the greatest albums ever made, put out by the greatest band to ever make music! If I could give it 10 stars I would. This masterpiece defined an entire new style of music that 50 years later is STILL pulling its best moments directly from it. If you don't like this album, I KNOW I don't like you!

Another artist I've heard people gush over for years. I don't really get the hype. It's not awful, but just seems so... theatrical, for lack of a better term. Music is well performed, but lacks any elements that really thrilled me, and often borders on boring. Vocals are just too campy and over the top. Big turn off.

If I was into dancing and getting fucked up on party drugs, I might love this... but I'm not. This is the soundtrack to my own personal hell. Nope!

I'm familiar with some earlier work from Beck... What the fuck happened here? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the backstory, but seriously? How does a romantic break-up change an artist's music so drastically for the worse? This is a total bore. I can't stand "sad man with a guitar" music, and adding orchestral elements on top doesn't help me. Hopefully this guy got over it eventually.

Early Beatles aren't any favorite Beatles, but for some reason I still enjoy it a lot. Short, upbeat, filled with harmonies, total pop. This is the first album to feature all original songs, though they undeniably pull from the 50's American rock 'n' roll they were mostly covering previously. George's 12-string Ric on this album is pretty much responsible for years of emulation and eventually spawning the jangle-pop genre. I guess I can't really blame him though, it did sound good here. Another album that's hard to separate from my very long history with it. Would I still like it if I just heard it today? Hard to say, but nostalgia makes this a fun listen for sure.

Can't really focus on this enough to care. It's not offensive, but it's just such "background music in a dentist's office" that my mind does everything it can to push it out of the forefront of thought. Better than Simon's solo drivel in my opinion, but nothing I can get excited about either for or against.

The first of 4 self titled albums for Gabriel post Genesis. I like them all, but this one is by far the weakest. Solsbury Hill is a masterpiece, and the album will stay in my collection solely for that, but the rest is tough. Excuse Me is a complete stinker. The exerimentaion within songs like Humdrum and Moribund The Burgermeister cause them to feel disjointed. Lots of different styles thrown in here and many of them don't land well. The schizophrenic sound is understandable from an artist trying to find their solo voice, but it's certainly distracting in an album format. Not an easy listen and it's more understandable now why it seldom gets a spin from me despite owning it for many years.

Wasn't sure about this once I heard it was mainly written on and focused more on piano than guitar, but it's still Bowie doing his thing. It's lighter and poppier than the stuff he's done that I prefer, so not my favorite of his albums. That being said, there is a lot going on that that is so well done that I did find myself enjoying it more than expected.

Classic hip hop for a reason. This is non-stop hits. One of the earliest to fuse rock with rap and I'm here for it. The only negative here (and I won't penalize this release for it) is that this is the ONLY reason Aerosmith had a popular resurgence and was able to put out a string of over the top shitty albums.

Wow, this is tough one. REAL downer of an album, which is something I'm not too keen on. But the performances are SO POWERFUL and moving, it's hard not to love this. Learning the context around the making of this album is heartbreaking, and makes it all so understandable. This is a tribute to pain, isolation, and sadness. Something I just WON'T be able to listen to often, but undeniably a momentous work to be respected.

Based on description alone I expected to hate this. Honestly though, it's not awful. Electronic dance music is not my style, and it's nothing I would probably ever listen to again, but I don't find it offensive. Some of the composition is interesting, and for the most part it is pleasant. I understand why others would be drawn to it.

This fucking sucks!

I knew a lot of the hits, and did have a loose appreciation for them, but upon sitting down to really listen to this... I think I love it! Lots of later Kinks going on. Some Beatles-esque compositions and harmonies. All around big-sound going on that I really like here. Probably the pinnacle of what I think of for Brit-Pop. My only complaint is why do you close such a powerful album with an acoustic sleeper?

This exists in that nebulous area where it isn't bad, but there's just nothing that pulls me in enough to get excited about it. I find my mind drifting as it plays and allowing it to become background noise. I can certainly see why others enjoy it. The vocal delivery is competent. The instrumentation is well performed, and is certainly more evolved than the average hip-hop from this era. It has a very "modern R&B" feel to it, which I've never really preferred. Maybe that's the turn off? Overall it's just nothing I can get passionate about either for or against.