Reviews by ryzgee

A very specific mood is required for this one, but in the perhaps ~5% of cases where the stars align for me, this album works a treat.

It gives off the feeling of being engineered for a light plod at dusk, or to be listened to over some mulled wine in a tiny, creaky, tucked away bar that few ever seem to visit. A warm, but also strangely distant listening experience in some ways.

I guess I just "Don't Believe the Hype" as I found this totally unlistenable. Way too obnoxious and in your face with no pockets of breathing room, riddled with irritating noises and the beats were fairly rudimentary/unvaried. I appreciate that the lyricism could be seen as cutting edge for the time, but it's all delivered in such an unpalatable way for my tastes.

Absolutely top notch beats and soundscapes, with some tastefully incorporated influences from world and African music to enhance the experience. One of my favourite electronic albums from the 90s, of which there are many excellent ones.

The top review for Leftism on the site describes it as "background music from a PS2 racing game" - I perhaps wouldn't necessarily disagree, but for me that's a huge part of the appeal and charm of this album. I listen to this and feel like I've been transported to another era where life was a lot simpler and people were generally a lot happier.

I adore Brian Eno and the mystique / unpredictability associated with his works. This is one of the weirder records he's put his name to, with a disorientating, off-kilter thread accentuating what you could otherwise describe as a relatively conventional experience by his standards, in terms of the songs generally following defined structures and possessing 70s pop-like sensibilities. It feels like a refinement of the first phase of his career into a creative apex, with his subsequent shift towards ambient music hinting that he also felt as such.

The bass guitar is up to all kinds of wizardry throughout, the piano playing is completely deranged at points, and the distorted vocals / anxiety-inducing synth work entwined with some juxtaposing optimistic tones ensures that Before and After Science lives in my head rent free.

Overblown, nauseating 1980s toss for the most part, plainly trying so hard to be weird yet it somehow manages to be utterly vacuous for much of its running time. A few interesting ideas - a broken clock is right a couple of times a day, I guess, but I've no inclination to revisit the complete package whatsoever.

This is absolutely mad and unique for its time. Although it's an early industrial album sonically, I'd also regard it as punk in the sense of it having that DIY "fuck you, we'll convey our message however we want" attitude. And boy, did they.

Who else was making anything as abrasive and unnerving as this with power tools, metal plates and other shit they found in the local scrap heap, whilst tying it together into something which oddly flows together seamlessly against the odds? You perhaps had Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, SPK and Test Dept occupying similar spaces in terms of releasing overwhelming, challenging music with unconventional instruments, although Kollaps took the idea to a whole different level.

Einstürzende Neubauten went on to do even better things IMO, but Kollaps deserves to be acknowledged here nonetheless. I've got Halber Mensch, Hans der Lüge and Silence is Sexy in my collection, any of which would have also been more than justified inclusions in this list by taking the experimentation apparent here into different, but equally thrilling directions. Kollaps is, however, on my wishlist.

If the powers that be were compiling a "1001 Lift Music Albums You Have To Manage Not To Fall Asleep Through Before You Die" challenge, then this would make a prime candidate for inclusion. Unfortunately, it's wormed its way into the wrong list and I'd have failed at the first attempt.

A pure manifestation of early punk, of course it deserves to be on here.

It's a record that I rarely ever seek out as it's maybe that little bit too pure compared to the sort of punk I typically like (UK anarcho wave, crust and hardcore mostly), but it always promises a good time and offers a firm reminder of just how important/influential it really was.

It's a well-executed rendition of a musical style that I generally can't stand whatsoever. His vocals got on my nerves a fair bit, and it's all a bit saccharine for me. The nice, warm bass was a positive feature throughout.

When this is at its unhinged best, or at its most tender, it really is great and worthy of its place in Bowie's catalogue.

This felt like something of a "full circle" album calling back to Bowie's 1970s stylings, whilst sounding contemporary and fresh. Most impressive is how he was able to capture the sprawling, expansive feel of an album such as Station to Station within much more condensed track lengths, knitting them together into a collective piece that truly takes you on a journey.

There were a couple of lesser events across its running time which didn't leave as significant of an impression, but they formed the minority of what is broadly a strong album.

Whenever I've tried with R.E.M. in the past, Automatic For The People aside, I've never been that impressed. I just find them mildly boring at best, and quite irritating in some instances. This one began promisingly, but the style of vocals quickly wore thin, and there wasn't an awful amount of variety between tracks aside from a couple of standouts ("Finest Worksong", "Welcome to the Occupation" and "Lightnin' Hopkins"). I know these guys receive a lot of love, but I just don't understand it personally.

It's not my go to Pink Floyd, or even anywhere near my favourite records of theirs, but it's still got some landmark tracks ("Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2", "Mother", and of course, "Comfortably Numb"), and it really does offer up quite the positively disorientating experience.

Quite markedly different from the psychedelic, atmospheric nature of their earlier works, it's a difficult, suffocating listen in some respects, but the pay-off is bountiful.

I don't really rate The Who aside from a few isolated offerings, or indeed this album. It's just a bunch of scrappy, incohesive nonsense with someone whining and groaning over the top of it, whilst sounding like it was recorded with a Sony Ericsson sent back in time. Maybe there's a deeper meaning at play here, but I don't care to try and make any sense of it.

A decent enough listen, with the first half of the album conceptually focusing on chartering the various phases of life from childhood to old age. It sounds considerably ahead of its time for 1968 in terms of its production values, and I appreciated the "louder" moments where the bass guitar rose to greater prominence in the mix, accompanied on occasion by some orchestral elements.

The problem is, I'm really not sure if I'd ever actively revisit as it requires being in such a sombre, despondent headspace to allow it to properly envelop you, whilst also being a low-key affair sonically.

This man is, quite simply, a revelation. It takes a special kind of talent to notch up a performance of this calibre on an entirely improvisational basis, at the dead of night and with a last minute substituted, hastily tuned and adjusted baby grand piano.

It's those imperfections and limitations with the instrument heard, combined with Keith Jarrett's boundless creativity, that firmly imprint this recording into the history books. An emotionally poignant and immensely passionate showing, not just through the breathtaking playing in and of itself, but also through the interspersed vocal ticks and welps of enthusiasm from Keith Jarrett that give the recording a deep-seated interpersonal feel.

I wish I could have been there.

This was mildly amusing to begin with, but the longer it went on, the deeper my stomach plunged into a pit of existential dread.

Musically it's a passable enough fusion of disco, funk and pub rock, if a bit shallow, but this geezer might be the most irritating vocalist I've been subjected to as part of this challenge. That's no mean feat when the likes of Anthony Kiedis, Billy Corgan, Damon Albarn, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Presley and the sheep-human mutant from The Flying Burrito Brothers have been served up at various points. We get it guvna, you're desperate for sex.

It's like a pub joke gone way too far.

Decent when it cuts straight to the point and lets loose, but it's somewhat dull across appreciable portions and a bit gratuitous on occasion. It felt way longer than 46 minutes. Two stars seems slightly harsh, but I'm not overly convinced it deserves three either.

Prior to today, I couldn't tell you a single thing about Kiss or name you a single member other than Gene Simmons, who has been known to cause a stir on occasion with some off-handed comments.

After listening to this, I couldn't tell you a single thing about it either, other than that it's some serviceable enough hard rock, but ultimately a bit throwaway.

This was a bit like if you were to put The Distillers through some dull, vacuous mainstream pop rock filter. There's even a track on here called "Dull Life" to not-so-subtly qualify that. It constantly plays out as though it's desperately begging to be let off its leash, but the air-conditioned, corporate production and its tendency to segway into half-baked, "delicate" slop just as it promises to build up a head of steam, ensures that it all remains a bit tepid and flat.

The Spotify version has FOUR acoustic bonus tracks tacked on at the end, which is where I cut my losses.

This is only my second ever listen to what I'm aware is widely regarded as a classic album. I can see why - it's chock full of tasty riffs and has a very dark, moody atmosphere reverberating throughout it. Particularly of interest to me are the songs which take on an almost Middle Eastern feel, such as "Head Down", and the more expansive offerings where the tension and misery shine through the strongest.

Vocals are often a bone of contention for me within grunge/hard rock, but Chris Cornell finds himself in that ideal sweet-spot of not being too yarling or overbearing for me, and his lyrics tell profound stories of dealing with depression, isolation, substance abuse and other unrest. Easy to see how this would have struck a chord with the vast audience in which it did.

The length is an issue which slightly detracts from the replayability factor for me, though it is a dynamic enough experience to warrant the majority of its stay.