Reviews by penthousedawg

An amazingly gifted songwriter (obvious statement), but the first half of this record lays bare the limited vocals and the inflection Bob puts on the end of each line gets grating by the fourth or fifth song. Unlike the audiences of the time, I was quite relieved when he had the backing of a full band in the second half but unfortunately I thought the actual songs selection was weaker than the first. Never satisfied, eh? Like most Bob Dylan, I can find enjoyment in a few songs at a time, but not a live double-album. 2.5

Not a great record (and that's from someone who grew up listening to Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr) but not a bad one either. I'm gonna give it a 4 though to balance out all the reviews that said it's terrible and gave it a 1. Hey, dad, it's my review and I can score it what I want.

I love a lot of what the album does, but I do not love this album. Moby clearly has an ear for what works and there is no denying it did well. But for me, it's like one long yet mildly pleasant television advert.

I liked what I heard - added to my bands/albums to return to

Should I be rating the music or the atmosphere or the absolute madness of a live recording in a prison? As a complete package and for it's uniqueness I am really tempted to give it 5, but some of the actual songs are a little forgettable. Cash sounds like such a charismatic guy.

Had this on cassette tape back when it was released. Although it's not something I would have chosen to go back to, it's chock full of memorable tunes, and Alanis excels at this blend of 90s singer-songwriter pop rock.

This album and probably Traffic as a band, will probably never cross my mind again - at least until this list offers up another one of their records. Mostly inoffensive 70's jazz/folk rock that I couldn't really pick out of a lineup of other 70's bands of this ilk. And there seems to be a lot of them. Freedom Rider caught my ear with it's notable sax motifs and flute interludes. I'm giving this a 2 star rating - although I (once again) appreciate the ability of these musicians, I can't dole out stars just because they learnt to play their instruments. Traffic is a dumb band name.

Ugh, definitely not one of his finer works and certainly not a personal favourite of mine. There's a few highlights (Fame is obviously a great song) but overall it left me a little cold. If you want soul music there's better options. The cover of Across the Universe just felt tacked on. I can't give it a great score just because it's Bowie - it's probably a 2.5 at best.

There is not much variety between songs but this is not necessarily a bad thing here; the album focuses on simple, chill synth and keyboard sounds with deadpan vocals delivering themes of nostalgic hindsight - laughing and crying in a city bedsit. It's a little bit kitschy and a little bit sad. There are some sweet melodies but it's mostly so subtle and gentle it might pass you by. It gets a light 3 from me.

I've listened to Talking Heads a lot over the years and they are one of the only bands who retain this aura of weirdness about them. I think it's the oddity of the David Byrne vocals over a funky repetitive backdrop - I find myself becoming a weirdo too as the music drags me in. Being weird never stops being fun.

I'm mostly not a fan of hip-hop and rap aside from the odd album or song, so being presented with a two-hour double album like this is already a big pill to swallow. Blending genres and influences normally helps the medicine go down here but here I struggled to stomach all the sugar piled on the spoon. If you like pop and hip-hop there's probably a wealth of content here to indulge in but it feels too much for me. As I was listening there were moments of excellence that popped up but again, it was generally lost in a landslide of ideas. After 40 minutes I started skipping the 'interludes'.

Probably good for a party? I wouldn't know, I don't get invited to parties. It's a 2.5 from me.

I always start by saying hip-hop and rap aren't really my areas and always feel a bit like an imposter when I say things like "I enjoyed the albums beats and the rapping really flows". But that's what I'm saying. There's a real angry undercurrent here, a lot of the words are delivered like political statements of intent. I loved the loops and sampling, like a rapper with ADHD flicking through TV station channels. Some cool bars "I'll check out a move / but it'll take a black one to move me" which I think was talking about Hollywood's portrayal of black actors.

This is never going to be my main listening genre (I always feel incredibly white listening to it) but this list has really broadened my knowledge. This album gets a strong 3.8 from me.

"Your Mother's got Gold Nipples"

I found the album an interesting listen and it became even more fascinating when I read up the history behind it; essentially, the claims Malcolm stole the work of other artists and packaged and released them as his own, are correct. He was sued for plagiarism and used the music of others and did not credit them on the record. Apparently, this was his schtick and did the same with punk rock. So Malcolm was not a musician, but a salesman: Art as Commerce.

That ugly business aside, what we have here is a wildly varied collage of sound and influences from Africa, New York City, Mexico, Caribbean and more. The use of 80s Hip-Hop beats, scratching, audio sampling and instrumentation from around the world can be found constantly throughout the record. It's pretty wild and exciting to listen to. The weakest part of the whole show is (what I assume are) Malcolm's vocal moments which sound out of their depth and cringe. Oh and the last track is garbage.

I'm giving the album 3 stars. And they are not for Malcolm, but for the artists he stole from.

An electronic pop record with some immaculate production and interesting instrumentation. Crystal-clear recording. The vocals, especially the female vocals, are beautiful. But..is this really one of the albums you really must hear before you die? I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, it's a great listen and worth your time, but it's not life-changing. When the album finished I found it to be rather forgettable. I bet this got a lot of radio playtime.

Brilliant album. I always considered The Clash to be the more intelligent alternative to the Sex Pistols, and this is demonstrated on this album with incredibly tight drums and bass and the snarling yet compelling vocals. Still a bit snotty, but far more restrained than Rotten, Vicious and co. The melodies and guitar are even playful and straight up fun at times. It packs so much in to 35 minutes. Iconic, even down to the cover photo.

Psychedelic, loads of swagger, full of great (Soul Kitchen) and classic (Break On Through, Light My Fire, The End) songs. It even gets a bit sexy (Back Door Man - is he talking about the bottom?) There are a couple of weaker songs (Twentieth Century Fox, I looked at You) but the album manages to keep it's momentum. Some really interesting bass and guitar work popping under the slightly dominant keyboard and organ sounds. I have no nostalgia for the 60s (I'm a 90s kid) but this sound just seems to be a wild time capsule and there aren't many bands as instantly recognisable as The Doors. I think there may have been some drugs involved.
4.5

Tango, jazz, classical. Not my genres normally but I gave it a whirl and found myself enjoying these varied and creative compositions. The opening track felt romantic and whimsical with transitions in to more mysteries and menacing moments. Very cinematic. Musical storytelling. It's going to be a challenging listen for most (me included). When the audience began clapping I was reminded this was performed live and took my appreciation to another level. Criticisms? Some of the songs go on too long for me. I would have appreciated something a little shorter, especially since I'm not accustomed to this type of music.

On the one hand, I want to award Kraftwerk for their individualism and their pioneering work in experimental electronic music. There are some interesting moments on here. On the other hand, I want to throw one star at them for never really taking the songs anywhere and the simplistic compositions. But maybe that's the point? Each song is like a piece of electronic equipment doing it's one simple task until it's batteries run out. Literally, I guess, since it's all keyboards and synth. Or maybe it's like sped-up footage of a European business centre at rush hour. The more I listened to this today the more I felt myself connecting with the music. I felt almost entranced and sucked in by the beats, much like some more modern IDM. I stopped thinking of it as individual songs and more one large piece of work as there are little call-backs to earlier motifs throughout the album. It's cool to be able to draw the dots and feel how this influenced electronica. It will still only be a 3.5 from me but I appreciated my time with the record.

Gritty, sweaty, frenetic. Iggy pushes you down a 36 minute slide... and the slide is covered by sandpaper and broken glass.

When I was young I used to make my own songs by overdubbing DIY instruments using two audio cassette players. Some of the instrumentals on here remind me of that - in a good way, of course. The songs are moody, sulky and angsty. A Forest is the best goth rock this side of Crawley.