Reviews by ryzgee

As you can see, I own this on CD but I'm not entirely sure if I've ever listened to it as, aside from "That's Entertainment", nothing felt overly familiar on this listen.

Anyway, I much prefer this to All Mod Cons. The songwriting here is sharp and ambitious, leaning into post punk textures, angular guitars and even Beatles-esque harmonies at times. I think this does a great job of illustrating how punk transitioned and evolved into the early 80s. It's undoubtedly still indebted to the "punk attitude" but it takes on a more expressive form, with some brilliantly tight drumming and melodic basslines propelling the songs. "Start" is a real standout through its driving energy and impressionable bass playing, whilst "That's Entertainment" paints a striking picture of the humdrum of working class British life, with Paul Weller doing a sterling job of finding beauty in the mundane.

Some of the deeper cuts aren't quite on the same level of memorability but they're plenty enjoyable enough. Strong 4/5 and another I'd upgrade to vinyl.

This does veer a little into Sky TV Guide menu music territory at times, but it's bloody good Sky TV Guide menu music. It's a wonderful blend of chilled out ambient textures, trip hop grooves and pop sensibilities to create a cinematic experience that swirls warmly around your eardrums.

The first two tracks "So Easy" and "Eple" are the obvious highlights and the ones everyone's at least heard in passing through being on adverts etc, the latter in particular having a really quirky retro-futurist and nostalgic vibe to it. Most of the album lacks vocals, but when they are introduced on tracks such as "Poor Leno" and "Sparks" they serve the songs to great effect. Its only real shortcoming is that some of the deeper cuts perhaps lack the same hooks and memorability, despite all of them being pleasant on the ears.

One I genuinely would upgrade to vinyl in my collection.

Yo, The Slim Shady LP ain’t dark, it’s try-hard in a trench coat,
Like a kid yelling “I’m insane!” just to stay afloat.
Every line begging shock like “please give a shit,”
But it’s edgelord spam over a half-decent beat kit.

Whole album sound like a tantrum that got signed to a deal,
Like Dr. Dre found a headache and said “this’ll sell, it’s real.”
But real ain’t just screaming every thought in your skull,
Half this shit sound like your brain buffering on null.

You ain’t breaking no rules, you just farming reactions,
Turnin’ outrage into streams, that’s transactional rapping.
If controversy was talent, you’d be Mozart-tier,
But take that away and it’s a void we hear.

Yeah, it made waves, but so does a loud-ass crash,
Don’t mean it’s art, sometimes it’s just trash.
Aged like milk in the sun with the cap screwed loose,
Now it’s more awkward than dangerous - truth.

Slim Shady LP? More like Slim Shady OD,
Too much bullshit, not enough actual MC.

I've tried this album a few times over the years, and always end up coming to the same conclusion that instrumentally this is a fun, rough around the edges blast of punk rock, but that I can't stand the vocals. They often veer too much into a borderline drawling style, and there's just something about how he carries a melody that sets my teeth on edge. Some of the lyricism is also rather eye-rolling to say the least. A shame, as otherwise I could see this being something I'd rate very highly.

Such a ubiquitous album, after one full listen there's nothing I can add which hasn't already been said before, just my personal anecdotes with The Beatles. I'm not a huge fan and am largely happy to stick to the greatest hits. This did begin to feel long at times but it probably ought to be on my shelves for the strength of many of the individual songs.

Having one album by this band on the list is contentious, but having two is unbelievably self-indulgent.

I can't stand this at all, mainly because of the horrific vocals which are among the worst I've ever heard. It's also an incredibly frustrating album. It clearly thinks it's too clever to be indie or garage rock but it's nowhere near unconventional enough to justify sitting within the realms of experimental rock. It's as though it's often still pandering to a template despite wanting to try and break out, with hints of krautrock-esque rhythmic repetition and noise rock abrasion all eventually falling flat and going nowhere of note.

I did appreciate some of the Lightning Bolt-esque distortion on the guitars at least despite no riffs standing out.

This started out promisingly enough with some real energy to the playing and a larger than life attitude, but it very quickly dissipated into, if this is even possible, background music which simultaneously got on my nerves. It all began feeling very samey with each track feeling less engaging than the last until I'd had enough.

Held off listening to this until I was able to give it the big speaker treatment back at home. I've very little else to say which hasn't already been shouted from the rooftops. When an album opens with a line like *"it doesn't matter if we all die*, you know you're in for a truly desolate experience. There isn't much else out there, even today, which matches this album's suffocating darkness. It worked a treat for me amidst a canvas of grey skies and torrential rain through my bedroom window.

Classic example of a methodical, complex jazz album which simultaneously feels like an achievement but which leaves me as cold as a rock. I really struggled to enjoy this and also struggle to see how others would, which is a rarity for me even with some of the albums I've awarded one star to previously. This obviously isn't shit but I really don't like it at all.

Another alright Neil Young album to add to the pile of alright Neil Young albums.

Not entirely sure what to make of this one. I like it because punk is obviously its primary styling, but it doesn't feel aggressive or abrasive in the same way as the punk of this era which I tend to gravitate towards, or as catchy to my ears as it otherwise needed to be.

There's a slight whiff of early R&B and Kinks-esque melodicism which is a bit lost on me, but I very much appreciated the socially conscious storytelling, particularly on a track such as "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" which provides a tense narrative about right wing violence in the London Underground and has a real rhythmic tightness to it.

A strong 3 stars all in all which I might re-evaluate down the line.

Why so many interludes?

Exactly what I was expecting judging by the cover art, and a couple of songs were enough to confirm that it's every bit as shit as I was expecting.

I can absolutely see how this acted as the gritty blueprint for later heavy blues and proto-heavy metal music, specifically with that unrestrained fuzz drenched guitar tone which went on to become a cornerstone of the more sinister and aggressive sounds which would follow. Tracks like "You Shook Me" and "Rock My Plimsoul" have that deep-groove, heavy blues vigour in spades, but my personal highlight is "Beck's Bolero" which is a sprawling instrumental that builds into explosive chaos.

The real lynchpin here is the interplay between Beck's virtuous playing and a young Rod Stewart's gravelly vocals which match the weight of the riffs. It's probably my favourite Rod Stewart performance put to tape.

The radio snippets from much better tracks by much better bands at the start of the album was as good as it got. I'm not sure I've ever thought that an album had too much trombone on it, but alas today's the day with this one. Also what the fuck are those vocals?

An album that is idolised within indie rock spheres and which has a legendary mythos surrounding it given the issues with its creation and subsequent label rejection. By default it has that "album for the weird kids" feel before you even dive into the music.

On that subject, this is just about the only album resembling americana which I have any time for as this is essentially a systematic dismantling of the genre. It's indie-americana fed through radio interference, static and avant garde mixing, with a real attention paid to the sound design. There's a wealth of textures on offer here which only reveal themselves more and more with repeat listens, and the production is wonderfully warm and radiant.

You get a chaotic impression immediately from the opening track "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", but it's a controlled chaos where beneath the avant-garde experimentation, Jeff Tweedy also has a knack for penning pop hooks, which prevents this from feeling completely detached despite the album's deliberate pacing, fragmented structures and dense layers requiring a specific, patient mood to fully digest.

Fairly ordinary, atmospheric post-Radiohead UK radio alt rock. Inoffensive and perfectly listenable but it offers nothing particularly memorable.

Safe to say this is not my thing. I can think of few worse combinations than R&B/soul and hip hop. Maybe throw country in the mix as well for the ultimate Frankenstein's monster of shit.

An absolutely legendary album and one fully deserving of its place in the book. Whilst officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the first album composed entirely of samples, I think reducing this record to purely that fact completely dulls the point.

This album is a marvel and really a flawless showpiece of creativity and emotional intelligence. How Josh Davis managed to painstakingly mesh so many disparate samples from such a broad range of crate-dug records together into something so profound and impactful really ought to be studied if it hasn't already. It's a tapestry of sound with a wonderfully nocturnal vibe shrouding it, invoking such a range of feelings all the way from muscular urgency to melancholy, and it still sounds just as vital and unique in today's landscape. I don't think anything about this album is in any way replicable or attributable to any nook of time. Simply a work of genius.

Like a completely boring and nondescript diet version of Radiohead. Why this is in the book beggars belief.