Reviews by ron_penis

i really like this in theory but in practice i don't want to hear David Thomas's vocal performance ever again (can't believe he had time for this band on top of running Wendy's!) challenging in a way that doesn't feel forced or (excessively) pretentious. not something to throw on in the background for sure, but active listening is certainly rewarded here. again, i just wish there wasn't some unwritten rule about post punk vocals being insufferable 85% of the time

i mean i obviously appreciate how important this album is, and it has some real bangers, but it's just not something I'm gonna be listening to on a regular basis. at only 25 minutes it's short and sweet but there are still songs i just don't care about. 5/5 for deserving a spot on the list, but 3/5 in my heart

the light at the end of the tunnel that is 90s electronic music

sure there are some songs I don't love (namely Two For The Price Of One which is terrible) but on the whole this is just very fun, very well made and actually fairly interesting pop music. Arrival is more fun, but this is the better album

often I'll just leave the review blank for 5 star albums where i have nothing to add that hasn't been said a million times already here and elsewhere, but sometimes i need to write something just to emphatically underline that sentiment. this is one of those times

a voice i would usually find to be a turn off but oddly works for me, and the musical backing is by and large gorgeous. my political sympathies also make me inclined to like the bastard, and after all I'm always a sucker for this folk shit

first time really listening to the kinks, i was hoping i could say "more like The Stinks" but unfortunately it was good so i am unable to put "more like The Stinks" in this review

pretty economical way to make 44 minutes feel like 90

usually I'm at least somewhat generous to stuff that tries to be "artsy" like this, but this just feels super forced and pretentious. there are a couple glimmers of enjoyable music but as everybody and their dog has pointed out, his voice is just unlistenably bad. is there supposed to be some point being made by the juxtaposition of the awful vocals and the passable-to-good music? possibly, but just because you do something bad on purpose doesn't make it magically not bad

after noticing some discrepancies with the lyrics, i dug around and learned that on spotify (as well as at least apple music according to another reviewer) tracks 4-7 are actually tracks 4-7 from their first album. can you just swing over to the debut and play the correct Mystery City songs there? no, that'd be too easy, Bangkok Shocks of course has the correct tracks 4-7.

this works for and against my initial impressions, as it means both the vile lyric "the sweet taste from the lips between your legs" (which sent me down this rabbit hole) and my favorite song (Cheyenne, mislabeled as Lick Summer Love) are both not actually on Mystery City. without this valley and peak, it's pretty unremarkable. more fun and less grating than the glam metal bands they'd influence, at least

very impressive and deserves its spot on the list, but i personally am not a fan of hour long solo piano recordings, regardless of proficiency or significance

when i finish this list, I'll look back on this album and think "which one was that?"

reheated and disposable. if art decorates space and music decorates time, this is auditory motel art

some undeniable bangers (don't stop til you get enough, get on the floor) and some undeniable stinkers (she's out of my life, I can't help it)

i feel like every song immediately exited my brain after listening, but overall it's pretty much fine. however, It's A Shame About Ray is one my least favorite songs of all time so that's an automatic deduction right there

better than the last echo and the bunnymen album i got on here, which is frankly a vague memory (just the kind of impression you'd expect an "album you have to listen to before you die" to make!) a little more squirmy and sonically interesting than a lot of its ilk. it almost thrums and dare i say crackles at points!

however, the obvious and embarrassing bias towards British music (especially all the post-punk and new wave) is getting more than a little tiresome. it's really too bad that hardly anybody outside of the US and UK has made any music in the last 70 years. ah well

can't think of a worse mega-successful band. musical styrofoam packing peanuts, absymally bad lyrics, somebody should remove Bono's vocal chords, may god have mercy on their souls

listened to this album for the first time a little over a year ago and didn't particularly care for it. guess i grew a brain since then

now this is some genuinely interesting freak music. very dramatic, weird and eclectic, and laibach themselves and the NSK state are fascinating. can't imagine I'll be reaching for this over and over, but very happy to have been exposed to it

interminable and frankly just kind of lame. james hetfield's voice also just does not sound great in that weird way a lot of 90s and 2000s metal vocals sound that i can never quite describe. I'm sure this would have been cool to attend, but as a recording it is miserable and neverending