Reviews by owen

Interesting to get this today after Sisters Of Mercy yesterday; they're not a million miles away stylistically. SoM a little gothier, but both 80's synth heavy moody music. The major difference is in quality; this is miles better than SoM. The unappealing last track (Pimpf) keeps it from a five star though.

Extremely eighties sounding, this seems pretty unexceptional. Singer sounds a bit Bowie-like, but if Bowie didn't have any good tunes.

Alice Cooper continues to confound; I didn't expect this to quote West Side Story. This is every bit as silly and theatrical as yesterday's Sparks album, but it doesn't do it for me in the same way. Low three.

Exuberant silly fun. Opens super strongly with "This Town" and "Amateur Hour". The rest is great, but not quite at that level. Still, into five star territory, I think.

This is a polarizing album! Count me on the "love it" side of the equation. Yes, Newsom has a bizarre voice, but it fits the material really well. Strong four.

Giving an additional point for historical significance, but there's nothing Elvis was doing here that others weren't doing better (Little Richard's version of Tutti Frutti is superior), and some of these songs are terrible (One Sided Love Affair).

It's not really unplugged if you still use electric guitars, is it? Anyway, good stuff, especially the Bowie cover, which I think is the album standout for me.

I like this a fair bit; Q-Tip sounds good as usual, and the beats are good. It isn't quite as good as the Tribe Called Quest stuff though, IMO. A high end three

This isn't really my style of jazz, and I don't think the compositions hold up among the jazz greats, but you can't deny that this is an amazing group of musicians at the top of their game.

Pretty amazing stuff - atmospheric and dreamy. If I had one criticism, its that the album is a little longer than it needs to be; 50 mins or so seemed like the right length for this, and my attention drifted a bit towards the end.

I Can't Stand The Rain (or a variant of it) two nights in a row, with Missy Elliott's yesterday. The cover of Help is pretty hideous; it seems to have been merged with "Do you like Pina Coladas" in a horrible hybrid. The production is extremely eighties; the whole thing is somewhat remedied by Tina Turner's compelling voice.

I thought I would like this more than I did, but to be honest, I found Timbaland's production a little boring.

Pretty amazing jazz. A wonderful cacophony.

Imagine turning out an album like this when you're only nineteen! Excellent stuff; I enjoyed this more than "Bolt Cutters"

I've never really been a country music guy, but every so often an artist allows me to appreciate the genre. This was great; I enjoyed both the songwriting and the delivery. Nanci Griffith's voice suits the material perfectly. I can see a direct through-line from here to another country artist I enjoy; Waxahatchee

This was pleasant enough to listen to, but for the most part didn't make a huge impression on me. I liked the contribution from Chali 2na. A lower end three.

Full of exuberant energy, this has been a favorite
for a long time. Rico Rodriguez is a legend and takes "Message" to the next level.

Mercifully short. Can't stand DLR's voice. Eddie Van Halen is technically amazing but it does nothing for me. And this album cover is terrible.

Nine minute suites; is this punk or prog rock? Anyway, i like this a bit more than Dookie, but it's still not really for me.

I found this to be fairly boring. I don't particularly like the big single off this (miracle), and the rest of the songs don't do much for me either. Competently executed but unexciting.