Reviews by owen

Easter Theater wears its Beatles influences on its sleeve, and Harvest Festival sounds like it could be a Paul solo track. Still, I suppose its not startlingly original to say that XTC sound like the Beatles, and I rather enjoyed this set of songs. A high three, on the cusp of four.

Musical junk food; enjoyable but devoid of nutritional content.

No thanks. Free Bird has its moments, but the rest is super boring.

I'm familiar with all the singles off this album but I never listened to the whole album before. "Girl From Mars" is the obvious standout - a great track full of youthful exuberance. The rest of the album is not so exciting though, at least to my 2023 ears; I think I would have liked it more in 1996. It's also let down a bit by Tim Wheeler's weak vocals.

You know, even an album of lesser known Abba is pretty damn good. I wasn't sure about the Bjorn vocals on "Two for the Price of One", but when it hit the chorus it really worked. Judging by play count, this is the least popular track on the album, but I loved it. The bassline in "Should I Laugh or Cry" is amazing. The only song that lost my interest a bit was "An Angel..."

I could do without the Jaw Harp on EVERY BLOODY SONG. And is that a Swanee Whistle on "Tonight Will Be Fine" ? (If it's not, there's no excuse for how out of tune it is). I also think I prefer gravelly old Leonard Cohen to this younger version. But the songwriting is pretty great (check out kd lang's version of Bird On the Wire).

Appropriately for the date we got this, Halloween is one of the best songs on this album. Other highlights; Monitor, the instrumental intro of "Sin in My Heart". The drumming on the 12 inch mix of Spellbound, included as a bonus track, is quite something.

Like a demented British Steely Dan with a hint of early Queen. Wall Street Shuffle is the best track. Some songs have lyrics that seem a little racist to today's ears. I liked the instrumental parts/guitar solo of Baron Samedi. Stuck between a high 2 and a low 3, I'm going to be very generous and give it 3.

I was ready for this to be more fun than it turned out to be, as Get It On is a blast, but the rest seems a little ordinary. I find Bolan's vocal style a little annoying. I like the fuzzy guitar tones.

Good Times Bad times felt like it could have gone longer. Dazed and Confused is great when it all kicks off. I'd never listened to this album before, having really only heard the Zep "hits" and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I expected to.

Better overall than Casanova, in part because it's trying less hard to be wry/humorous. Its length also works in its favor. A high 3.

I fully expected to hate this, but it actually wasn't that bad. Not something I'd ordinarily choose to listen to, but bearable listening. Some good guitar, the vocals were a little annoying. A generous 3

A mixed bag - some songs I really liked (my favorite was the instrumental "You Have To Go Sideways" ), but others that sounded quote dated; even more dated than the 1980 release date would suggest (Queen Of Eyes, for example).

I like the music more than the vocals. But overall, this is not really for me. Much as with RATM, I'm not saying this is bad, just not my thing.

About as subtle as being hit in the face by a shovel, and half the songs are ripoffs of other songs (Cigarettes & Alcohol is even in the same key as Get It On), but it's undeniably fun.

Pretty sure I have this on CD in the garage, but I haven't listened to it in ages. Its good some good songs on it but it's overlong, and continues in the direction Frank Black was taking the Pixies, into more "conventional" rock. Not nearly as good as the first couple of Pixies albums.

I liked this quite a lot - the two singles (Freddie's Dead, Superfly) were both enjoyable.

I liked this at the time, and it was definitely part of the zeitgeist, but it seems a bit bland in retrospect. It's let down by Fran Healy's slightly weak vocals. "Luv" is a bit of a dirge. But some of the songs are undeniably catchy. I actually think the hidden track at the end is probably the strongest on the album.

Two track original, or four track rerelease? I went for four, and it was largely worth it, although I do think the first track was the strongest. His back up singers seem a little sharp sometimes. Maybe it's on purpose, who knows.

Genesis' peak - PG left after this to do his own thing, and Genesis morphed into a different band. This is some serious prog, including a fanciful concept story about Rael, but musically it really works, and Gabriel' vocals are excellent - I really like the bit in the Raven where the vocal shifts from Gabriel to Phil Collins as it shifts character. Possibly one of my favorite albums of all time, though I appreciate that's colored by my teenage self's love for it.