Reviews by scribeben

While not the fully realized transcendent vision that is Loveless, this is nonetheless a phenomenally cool and original alternative rock record.

Fun collab from two of music’s most inventive minds. The samples are a bit cringely appropriative but do sound cool against Eno and Byrne’s soundscapes.

I like this one better than their other record on this list. The vocals are still a little tough for me to get into but the arrangements are elegant and pretty. It’s weird because I like Nick Drake, but in this context the lispy vocals just really take me out of it.

The exquisite dawn of the prog side of glam.

I like this one quite a bit more than their other record on here. Like The Smiths with a little U2 in there as well. It still gets into that musical theater territory at the end though.

Inaugurating the great punk tradition of putting style over substance, except in this case the style isn’t that good either.

It’s kind of amazing that they were able to make electronic tracks with minimal vocals into major hits in a competitive alternative rock radio landscape. All these years later they don’t sound dated, largely due due to the organic-sounding drum loops.

This started out promisingly with two pretty cool tracks with shades of The Cure and U2 but then lapsed into typical cheesy 80s “sophisti-pop” fare with only the occasional interesting moment. Nothing terrible though.

No description has ever made me more intrigued to listen to a record than this one has. Rubinstein’s actions were clearly exploitative, as he definitely saw something evocative of a mind in turmoil and tried to harvest it (though apparently in vain, if his goal was material reward). The record itself has some moments of brilliance, particularly in “War In Peace” and “Cripple Creak”.

This is a really fun record, though I don’t like the production as much as her 90s stuff.

I’ve been waiting for this one. The Captain’s proficient songwriting ability (evidenced by his other record on here) grounds the dissonant, gesticulatory shambling of this record in a way that makes it clear he knows exactly what he’s doing at all times. The manically sardonic lyrics have their own brilliance. Of all the “out” albums on this lost so far (Spy vs Spy, The Residents, Bitches Brew, Velvet Underground self-titled, Einsturzende Neubaten, etc.) I think this is the greatest. I hate to say that it makes Tom Waits’s most eccentric experiments seem a bit pedestrian and derivative.

Leave it in the ocean.

This has a fun, juvenile energy missing from his later records. Still a bit tedious after awhile.

Inoffensive and delicate folk pop. Just makes me wanna listen to Ani Difranco. Where’s she on this list? I feel like she listened to this.

The songwriting is not quite as refined as in Back to Black but the talent is already there.

I remember when this beat OK Computer for Spin magazine’s album of the year in ‘97 which I found baffling because I hadn’t ever heard of it. I’m not sure if I ever got around to listening to it in any of the intervening years, besides hearing “Brimful of Asha” a handful of times, but I suspected it would turn up here. All in all it’s pretty cool. Like a Desi-infused British Beck. But it’s no OK Computer, that’s for sure.

Thought I was gonna hate this based on the band name but turns out it’s mostly not bad, if a bit unremarkable, with only a smattering of cool moments throughout.

Two whole Sepultura records on this list is pretty cool, though it is surprising that this one and not Chaos A.D. is included. Still, this one is heavy as hell and full of enough variation to keep things interesting. Given the dearth of metal deep cuts on here, I’m giving it 5 stars.

Coincidentally, I got a Traffic record the day prior to getting this one. This seemed to have pushed all their worst elements to the forefront, yielding the musical equivalent of expired mayonnaise.

On the whole not nearly as cool as their other record on here but “Crying to Be Heard” is a banger.