Reviews by owen

There's so much to love about this. Kiwanuka's voice is great. I like the production (which has those Danger Mouse fingerprints all over it - that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned). I don't think there's any weak material on here.

Haven't listened to this in twenty years, and I think I like it more now than I did then. Singer's voice works well for me, I like the sax.

There're a lot of people in reviews saying that there's only one good song on this album, but TBH even that feels a bit generous; the title track kind of plods along. A very low two; borderline one.

I admit I groaned when this came up yesterday; the thought of an hour and twenty of early 2000s pop didn't appeal. But I split it into two sessions (disc 1, disc 2), and was very surprised how listenable I found this. She's got a good set of pipes.

Another classic from Stevie at the peak of his powers.

This is ok, bit not particularly memorable; I prefer their later stuff that's more electronic; I'd put Walking Wounded on the list over this. Their recent album was pretty great too.

It's just not that good, right? Maybe you had to be there. Was going to give this two but the self indulgence of "It Can't Happen Here" tipped me over to 1 and Monster Magnet confirmed it.

I gave Exit Planet Dust a five star review with only the text "Bangers", and I could really just do the same here, TBH. But I want to add that Setting Sun is amazing, captures the vibe of Tomorrow Never Knows and amps it up.

I liked this a lot more than "Scott 2", but I still have reservations about Walker's voice which is too rich/smooth for me. I liked the instrumentation a fair bit though.

I liked this quite a lot. Far better use of flute than the Traffic album from the other day.

The title track is so overplayed that it's lost any power it once had, and now just feels trite. I don't wanna be a soldier is a dirge. I like the George solo on Gimme Some Truth. I really like the music of How Do You Sleep, but those lyrics are just embarrassing. "How" and "Oh Yoko" are nice songs to close out the album. All in all a mixed bag. McCartney's Ram is a better album that's not on this list, IMO.

More Steve Winwood, this time with flutes. My gripe about Winwood's vocals in the last album stands here as well. This is also an annoying stereo mix, with the piano fully in the right ear and guitar fully in the left. Low two; pretty close to 1 territory.

This was unbelievably boring to me. Couldn't wait for it to be over.

Brings back nostalgic memories of sitting hunched over my ZX Spectrum while this plays on a double tape deck. A solid four, though I appreciate some of that may be the nostalgia.

I liked this more than I thought i was going to, though it's ridiculously front-loaded and tails off a bit after that. The first three tracks are pretty great though.

Super cheesy eighties stuff; this doesn't hold up. Steve Winwood's voice is another of those which, although a decent voice, is one that doesn't work for me.

Back To Life was ubiquitous in 1989, and it's still pretty good. And Keep On Moving is OK. But the rest of this does not hold up to time at all. Holdin' On is painful. Most of the rest is fairly bland. I also hate whatever Do'Reen is doing with her voice.

I could see how this might get a little tiresome if it were long, but at barely over half an hour, it doesn't overstay its welcome. I like the title track a lot; i think it was a single. My Drug Buddy also good, and the cover of Mrs Robinson has some great bass playing. I think this merits a four.

I quite liked this for the most part, although her voice does get a bit much sometimes, especially in the higher parts where she amps up the volume.

I didn't dislike it but it's not my favorite hip hop by a long way. A low three.