Reviews by ryzgee

This starts out far stronger than what I remember of the other Rolling Stones album I've had in "Sticky Fingers" (which, admittedly, isn't a lot) - the energy levels are amplified from the word go via the opener "Paint it Black", which is far more closely indebted to actual HOOKS and catchy guitar passages rather than just wafting about aimlessly.

This optimism didn't last long, however, as by the fourth track or so, the album just dissipated into horrible, repetitive white noise for me. The dodgy misogynistic lyrics don't help either. One good track does not an album make (or whichever spin you want to put on the phrase).

Well this is pretty damn good, innit? I've never consciously heard a note of Hendrix's music, so taking in this album has truly been an awakening for me. I can't begin to imagine how mind-blowing an experience this would have facilitated when it first dropped in 1968.

Sure, it's a bit of a sprawler, but at no point did "Electric Ladyland" become tiresome to me as your man Jimi just unleashes sick guitar exploits, one after the other, for over an hour. People speak of Hendrix as one of the all-time revolutionary purveyors of the instrument, and yeah, I can't really argue with that on this evidence.

I'll be buying this.

This is nowhere near as strong of an album as "Behaviour" or "Introspective"; whilst it houses several of the group's set-list mainstays, such as "It's A Sin", "What Have I Done To Deserve This" and "Heart", I can't help but feel that several of the deeper cuts occupy that status for a reason, failing to leave as significant of an impression without being poor as such. Nonetheless, I'm more forgiving of Pet Shop Boys than others seem to be, and I will return to this for the hits.

Objectively it's probably a strong 3 stars, but I'd be tempted to give it the benefit of the doubt as I am a fan.

I'm kind of speechless after having heard this. It's the sonic equivalent of being chased by a stampede of hundreds of baby elephants - absolutely relentlessly chaotic, and I really did like it. Slightly gutted to find that it isn't on streaming, but it was worth ploughing through several adverts for.

Fuck this shit, I'm putting the new Neurosis album on again

Well what a whole lot of nothing this is. It's like an auditory boiled rice and tofu sandwich. Music you'd hear while you're waiting to have your root canal done. Fuck this shit, I'm putting the new Neurosis album on again

Fucking dreadful. There's a strong case for this being the worst album I've had so far. Horrible, horrible dreary shite with absolutely no redeeming features. Only managed five tracks.

This sure was an album. It began and ended. There was music split across several tracks. There were vocals, drums, maybe even guitars. One of the albums ever made.

My thought process whilst listening to this fluctuated between "this actually isn't half bad, probably the best Blur album I've had so far" and "shut the fuck up Damon Albarn" approximately 30 times.

It's way too long (not helped by the drawling "Oily Water" or disastrous "Miss America" tanking proceedings towards the second third of the album), and it tries to be psuedo-intellectual whilst ultimately coming off as a bit daft. Very Kinks-esque updated for the 90s, but I'm not the biggest Kinks fan, so go figure!

Lovely stuff. I'm not the most well-versed in jazz, but I know what I like from the genre when I hear it. Not sure when I'd actively reach for this as dedicated listening, but it fit the bill spectacularly well this morning as a soundtrack for getting ready for the day.

I bought this a little while ago on a mate's insistence, having never heard it for myself. I gave it a single spin and liked it, but I've not returned until today, which is a shame as this is a very good listen indeed.

It provides a seductive, well-balanced fusion of noisy industrial power pop, alt rock and psychedelia, benefitting from some excellent production where layers of instrumentation combine and distort into one another fantastically well. It's also an emotionally dextrous effort, where the overarching mood is one of darkness, but the way in which it is revealed to the listener varies from outright vulnerability to a slight arrogance and edginess that is substantiated.

Instrumentally, it's some great, colourful, energetic punk that should absolutely be my thing. It's a shame then that, vocally, these guys have never been my thing. The guy just can't really sing and drives me up the wall.

This wasn't hideous; in actuality, it was quite listenable, although rather one-paced, one-note and a bit dreary.

I was anticipating some yodelling bonky bonk racket, but this is more "atmospheric" country - the sonic equivalent of a gentle stroll at dusk, with some western instrumentation sprinkled in. The issue is that variety is very much at a premium here, so it quickly disappeared into the periphery.

The "R&B/hip hop soul girl group" description had me recoiling when this first popped up. I actually didn't hate it anywhere near as much as I expected to, but there's little here which appeals to me or that felt like it's endured the test of time to warrant sustained inclusion. This would have sounded slick for the time, I'm sure, but stylistically it's very dated and very safe.

'Tis a bit long and pompous innit? There are some decent offerings on here, which are enjoyable when experienced in isolation, but a double album of bombast and self-serious, overblown theatrics is perhaps a bit too much to bear in one sitting.

Just a tame, insignificant acoustic country album that has absolutely no business being on the list. Plus he's supposedly a cunt, and as someone who shares his first name, I'm giving this a one star accordingly as a show of solidarity for all of the other Ryans out there ensuring this process alongside me.

I'm a long time fan of these guys, and of their unique blend of punk rock, industrial and noise rock.

An abrasive, yet cheeky and playful listening experience, Steve Albini's larger than life persona really does come to the fore in his playing, with "Atomizer" breezing and buzzing along wonderfully for just short of 40 minutes. It has the ramshackle energy of what would become early post-hardcore, whilst the industrial elements contrast by magnetising the album back towards more defeatist sentiments. A to-and-fro that consistently provides the goods.

The production captures a perfect balance between distortion and affording the instrumentation space to make itself intelligible, with the intentional lo-fi quality to it preserving the soundscapes conjured up here into today's landscape, where we are seeing more of a DIY resurgence in punk.

Inexplicably, I haven't got this in my collection despite owning the similarly brilliant Songs About Fucking, but it's floating about on Discogs relatively cheaply, so I might have to indulge.

This is one of those albums which is never going to fully reveal itself to you on a singular listen, requiring time and patience, however the one listen will have to suffice for now as I'm craving some metal in my ears.

That said, this is absolutely bonkers and ceremoniously diverse, with plenty of overlap with other psychedelia artists which feature highly in my estimations, whilst feeling unique to itself in how it apportions progressive pop sensibilities, orchestral arrangements, rock opera-scale ambitions and contemporary means of production, whilst still heavily invoking the 60s in terms of its "no holds barred" approach and broadly optimistic tones. However, it even channels late-career experimental Scott Walker towards its back end on a track such as "Mrs O'Leary's Cow", completely flipping the vibe of the album on its head when you'd least expect it.

I'm fairly certain I have heard Smile before as it's saved in my Spotify library from several years back, when I was working through a list of the "most challenging albums to listen to" list on AOTY/Sputnik/similar, but it was more or less a fresh listen this go around. It will be joining my physical shelves, incredible stuff.

Kill it with fire

I rather enjoyed this as a gentle, breezy album to laze around to in my hostel bed after last night's fun.

Quite similar to Booker T. & the MGs compositionally and in sound; where the Hammond organ exudes warmth, whilst the drumming here is a joy to wrap your head around, propelling these tracks into interesting directions. Back At The Chicken Shack felt a lot more engaging to me, however, owing to its utilisation of the saxophone in an almost "vocal-like" fashion, where every note tells a story.