Reviews by owen

I still prefer later Bowie over the glam rock era incarnation, but this is still very enjoyable. The piano, especially in the title track, is fantastic.

Over 50 years old, but still sounds pretty fresh. The mix is pretty bad; I preferred the Bowie mix over the Iggy one, but neither are great. But the underlying material is solid, and there's some great guitar on the record.

I'm not a huge fan of Geddy Lee's voice (though I don't hate it either), so the instrumental YYZ is the best track for me. Second best morse code rythymed song (after the theme tune to Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em).

Solid stuff, especially the title track. I enjoyed listening to this. A pretty strong 3.

The musicianship on this album is incredible; the drumming is so tight, the bass locks into the groove. The keyboard solo 12 mins into Chameleon is excellent.

Excellent songwriting (though some of the chord progressions in "My Old Man" feel a little odd). "A Case Of You" is a wonderful song.

I'd never heard of Callahan before this listen. He's got a soothing, pleasant baritone voice that fits the slightly dark tone of the music - like a more tuneful Leonard Cohen. I liked this quite a lot.

This is the second album in a week where a white guy in the seventies puts on a dubious Jamaican accent. Oh dear.

Other than Jamaican Jerk-Off (which is truly awful) and Roy Rogers (which is a bit weak), every other song on this is great. Elton certainly knew how to write them in the seventies. Favorite one I hadn't heard before was "All The Girls Love Alice". 4.5 stars (minus half for JJO), but rounding to 5.

As other reviewers have noted, the level of vibrato here can be a bit tough going. But its not excessive on all songs, and the music is otherwise very good. A solid three.

This album is brilliant and infuriating in equal measure. There are portions of it that are quite wonderful, but other bits that I find quite annoying. Giving this a three, but unlike most threes, it's not because it's "pleasant but unmemorable", but rather that that's the only way to average out the fact that this albums is both 5 and 1.

This was nice enough to listen to but it didn't really grab me in any way.

Wow, I thought this was just fantastic - can't believe I've never listened to it before. Totally see why it's so acclaimed. The complex rhymes here must have been a revelation in 1994.

Not quite sure what I feel about this one yet; I think I need more time, and more listens for it to settle in first. I'm going to give it a 3, because I quite enjoyed it, but I think that could change by +/-1 in the future

I really can't stand "Without You". It's so schmaltzy and overblown. And Coconut seems a bit racist these days with the fake Jamaican accents. Overall I'd say that something about this album rubbed me the wrong way.

I liked this significantly more than the early era Cohen we got a few weeks ago. The songwriting is strong here, and although Cohen's voice is not necessary an easy listen, it suits the atmosphere of the music well. A pretty strong three.

I bought this on CD when it first came out and it seemed pretty groundbreaking stuff at the time - I guess the first exposure of drum n bass to mainstream culture. But I'm not sure it holds up that well in a modern context. It's fine, but it's a little samey, even if you restrict your listening to just the first disc of what is now a 5 hour deluxe release on streaming.

Not really my kind of music, though I appreciate it is good quality in its genre. And Dolly is a singer/songwriter legend. There were a few tracks here that stood out for me - especially The Way I See You / Here I Am.

Never listened to anything by Robert Wyatt before, but I loved this! Heaps of Sheeps pulled me in immediately - can really feel the Brian Eno production here. The rest of the album was pretty amazing too - I think this might be my favorite "previously unknown to me" discovery since starting this project.

It's undeniable that Adele has an incredible voice, and some of these songs are really strong, but it's not something I'd typically listen to. There are also a few "truck driver's gear shift" key changes here that I don't feel were necessary.

I like the individual songs in this but there's not enough variation to make it a great album. Paper Planes is a banger though.