Reviews by scritters

Pre Listen:
The only OutKast song I know is Hey Ya! And that songs a bop. With groups like that it makes me worry if there's a reason they're only really known for one song. Low expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Intro | Stankonia (Stanklove) - Tied for my least favorite songs, and ironic that it's both the first and last song on the album. Both are just gross-sounding slurpcore songs about smut. Stupidity.
Ms. Jackson - A highlight of the album. Honestly, the only other song I enjoyed on this thing outside of:
B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad) - Favorite song on here by *far*. Funky beats, shredding guitar, lyrics that get you pumped. I especially enjoy the beat track.
(Interlude) - Just putting this out here, I disliked pretty much every interlude. Waste of time, only the prenup one even left me slightly amused.

Post Listen:
I don't want to ever go back to Stankonia. That shit stanks.

I was wondering when I'd get a rap album about unapologetically being something of a player. The lyrical content of most every song was just boring, although it is somewhat impressive how many times you can reword the concept of "I like easy women". Most beats felt either overly simple or needlessly overdone to me. My biggest gripe was how long this thing was, I ultimately finished it over two days cause it just got so mentally tiring actively listening to slop-rap song after slop.

This album feels squishy like an overripe grape, while also feeling sticky like a Chuck E. Cheese. 2/5

Pre Listen:
Seriously? They didn't include Speaking in Tongues by the Talking Heads on this project, but they included this one?? This is one of their worse works in my opinion, I don't have a single song from it on my playlist, and I consider myself a big Talking Heads fan. Fucking baffling man.

Notable Tracks:
Warning Sign - Ugh I love the instrumental work on this song, that bass is fucking sick. Then David Byrne comes in and sounds like he's singing against the music, not with it. Frustrating.
Stay Hungry - Least favorite song. It has this grating elementary sound to it, it's so repetitive. Byrne's vocal performance is so bland here too.
Take Me to the River - Favorite of the album, and the only song that comes close to getting added to my playlist. Gets me nodding along a bit to it midway though, typically.

Post Listen:
This album is a culmination of every issue I have with the Talking Heads as a band, which again, suck because I really like the Talking Heads at their strongest.

Repetitive melodies, David Byrne just going full-schizo on the mic, weird audio-mixing, and an overall feeling like there's something missing. Some songs go on for too long, some just lack substance overall. It's really a shame they included this album on here, if this project is suppose to be a celebration of only the best. Critically and commercially to my knowledge, both Little Creatures and Speaking In Tongues far out-performed this album, neither of which are on this project for god knows why.

If you listened to this and think The Talking Heads just isn't for you, I'm begging you to listen to Speaking In Tongues. This album here is them at their most meh, I promise. 2/5

Pre Listen:
Right away from the title, artist name, and album cover, I feel a pit of despair in my gut. Despite never heard of these guys (thankfully?) my expectations are at rock bottom.

Notable Tracks:
Human Cannonball - Favorite song on the album, in fact it's the only song that really feels like a song to me. Defined start and end, notable progression, good instrumental work, and minimal annoyances throughout.
Kuntz - There was a lot of contenders on this album for my least favorite song. All the songs that were just bland noise. All the songs with ugly and stupid vocals. This one though stuck out to me as my least favorite because it just feels like plagiarism. They just took some Thai song (that was better than anything they've made here) and did minimal looping and distortion affects on the part where it sounds like the singers say "Cunt". It probably took this band longer to find the song than to chop it in to this disgrace.
22 Going On 23 - Mixed feelings about this song, because it probably has the best guitar work on the album, but that radio sample it includes throughout feels so gross and slimy to include, along with the ending.

Post Listen:
The amount of albums on here that are just loud noises with the occasional decent guitar work or weird audio distortion affect make me question the curator's sanity.

Genuinely, when this list was being made, did the author go through a car-wreck or sustain some head injury that made it so only the loudest and messiest of sounds got through to their head? I'm so sick of these sorts of junk-food albums where it seems the whole reason for their existence is to spite the listener. Skipped most songs on this piece of trash after 30 seconds to 1 minute or listening.

The album cover is accurate in that the creators and enjoyers of this album are complete clowns. 1/5

Pre Listen:
The Kinks :D ! ! ! I gave their last album on here a 5/5, and I still listen to songs from it on the regular. Expectations will certainly be higher than usual here, looking forward to seeing what these lads have in store on this one.

Notable Tracks:
The Village Green Preservation Society - Yea this is the good stuff. Thank you Kinks.
Last Of The Steam Powered Trains - Instrumental work here sounds like something from Creedence Clearwater Revival. That is all.
All of My Friends Were There - Least favorite track. I have no idea what they were going for here, tempo and melody changes at random, nonsense lyrics.
Village Green - Favorite track, and maybe the only thing I'll add to my playlist from this album? I appreciate the unique sound to it, and the story it tells.
Phenomenal Cat - Well that's certainly a song to end an album on. That's definitely one of the songs of all time. Lyrics sounds like something from Pink Floyd's early works.

Post Listen:
Perhaps it was my expectations being too high, but I really didn't enjoy that album all too much. :<

Most every other song wasn't really bad, but overwhelmingly mid. They have minimal flare outside of weird lyrics, melody or tempo changes mid-song, and other meh tricks. It didn't feel nearly as creative or focused as their other works I've encountered by now.

Thoroughly disappointed, I was really hoping for another 5/5. Oh well, there's more Kink's albums ahead. 3/5

Pre Listen:
Ray Charles, cool. I've listened to a song of his here and there, and I like it well enough. Higher expectations than usual, let's see what we got here.

Notable Tracks:
Am I Blue - Least favorite track on here. It starts well enough with the violins and soft flute, and the instruments maintain quality throughout, I just get bored of the lyrical whingeing.

Post Listen:
I like Ray Charles, but I liked the big band backing him a bit more than the things he did himself. Still, that was a good album.

Every section of the band played their roles well, great harmonies. The bass and violins stuck out to me as particularly notable. Ray Charles' piano work is superb, though I'm not a huge fan of his voice. It's not bad, just not amazing I think.

Another classic artist with a sweet little album. 4/5

Pre Listen:
Another group I've never heard of. Based on the release date and album cover, guessing rap? I've said it before, I'm always a little ambivalent towards albums released during my lifetime that I've not heard of. Lower expectations than usual.

Notable Tracks:
Be (Intro) - Not the sort of rap I was expecting, nice. Reminds me a bit of Kanye's golden days. Got some superb lyrical work here.
Testify - If I had to choose a least favorite song, it would be this one. The female sample is blegh. The lyrical content is good, the story it tells is neat (many such cases), but the sample is unrelenting.
The Food - Holy shit, first Kanye appearance in this project. I'm itching to get to talking about him, when he has his moment on here. Bro's like a specter.
The Corner | It's Your World - Tied for my favorite tracks. I absolutely love the commentary here, I love the beats, and I especially love the last part of It's Your World. That piano is chef's kiss.

Post Listen:
That was a wonderful album. I got an album a little while ago I absolutely dogged on which attempted(?) to be a reflection on African American Society. I think this one explored that concept, but a million times better!

The lyrical work is what stood out to me as exceptional. Consistent themes of love and faith within a culture which frustratingly interprets those things as lust and blind loyalty. All while reflecting on living in such a culture, watching it change, and working towards a better future for yourself and your loved ones. The beats too are pretty good throughout, got an odd looping sample here and there, but overall it's great.

The only thing keeping me from giving this a 5 is personal taste. It's not quite my genre, and in keeping this project personal towards my own tastes, I just don't see myself adding anything here to my playlist, but if I end up coming back to this I could very easily bump it to a 5.

4/5

Pre Listen:
The name CHIC seems super familiar to me, but the album cover/title doesn't ring a bell. No expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Good Times - Ah, I knew CHIC sounded familiar for a reason! This songs a total banger, looking forward to the rest of this album now that I know :)
Can't Stand to Love You - My least favorite song. Despite being the shortest song on the album it feels the longest, it's very repetitive.

Post Listen:
Cute little album. I like :)

Smooth beats all around, the violins in a lot of the songs were great. The bass too shined throughout most of the album, as well as the vocals. My only complaint was that I felt like the songs got a little worse the longer the album went on. The best was frontloaded.

Disco is not dead, clearly. Thanks CHIC! 4/5

Pre Listen:
Bah, R.E.M :/
One of the handful of bands I once really enjoyed, but the more I listened to them, the less I started to like their sound. The vocalist in particular became very grating to my pallete over the years. I'm sure in listening to this album I'll feel some nostalgia, but my expectations are lower than usual.

Notable Tracks:
It's The End Of The World As We Know It - Classic here, and upon re-listen I might re-add to my playlist? I don't know. It's just a banger, but I'm afraid I'll get tired of it again.
The One I Love - Least favorite song on here. God I think this song is overplayed to hell and back. Just gives me the ick.

Post Listen:
R.E.M. is another one of those bands I mentally categorize under Dad Rock.

Functionally, everything they play is just fine. Good guitar work, drums, vocals, etc. It's just another one of those albums I struggle to recall any songs from outside of their major hits, it's mostly forgettable filler. I still have some distaste for the vocalist too, his voice is just a bit too nasally for my tastes. I did enjoy the album more than I anticipated, but not by much.

I understand folks who enjoy R.E.M., I just don't dig em like I used to. 3/5

Pre Listen:
The album title and artist's name are unfamiliar to me, but stupidly enough I recognize the album cover as the one to "Sledgehammer" since I got that one in my playlist already. I guess I'm interested in seeing what else is from this album, since I always thought Sledgehammer was a 1-hit wonder.

Notable Tracks:
Sledgehammer - Yup, that's the classic right here. That intro is iconic and goofy as hell.
Don't Give Up - Probably my least favorite track on here. It's too long, and while I appreciate Kate Bush's voice, it's just too cheesy for me.
Mercy Street - I like this one as well. The soft synth is nice, and the harmonies are also nice. Adding to playlist.
Big Time | In Your Eyes - I had no idea both of these hits were Peter Gabriel either. Classics, both of these as well.

Post Listen:
I did not expect so many bangers on this album. What the helly!

I'll be adding quite a few of these songs on to my playlist, Peter's vocals are consistently good, and he demonstrates great range as well. There's a great variety of sounds from the songs in here as well, although it's such a variety the overall theme of the album ends up being somewhat unfocused. The hits are great, but there's a few songs on here too that are pretty bland, forgettable, or cheesy.

That all said, listening to this album made me feel like a protagonist in an 80's action/comedy family movie. 4/5

Pre Listen:
The album cover is a bit bleak for something from the 70's? Never heard of them, no expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Navvy - Why the fuck does the singer sound like a schizophrenic heroin addict. Skipped after 1 minute, dear god I hope the album isn't all like this.
Thriller! - The album is all like that first song. Awful, just terrible. Skipped every song partway through, and ultimately decided to stop listening entirely on this track.

Post Listen:
What a miserable piece of work. The vocalist really outdid himself making the worst possible noises a human can make and pass off as "singing".

The instrumentation was ok I guess, for the first 15 seconds of each song until they are entirely drowned out by the worst drunken karaoke you've ever heard. The vocalist sounded like a washed-up Temu-brand David Byrne wannabe. He completely took any merit out of any song within moments of making a sound. I couldn't understand 80% of the slop coming out of his mouth either. Just awful, truly.

99% shit, 1% post type album. 1/5

Pre Listen:
Fuck me...it's the first of SIX Radiohead albums on here. I've never enjoyed a Radiohead song before genuinely, with "Creep" being the closest exception, of which I only enjoy in an ironic 'This song fucking sucks' sort of way. I've been dreading this day for some time, I knew it was coming eventually. Expectations are in the gutter.

Notable Tracks:
Pyramid Song - It...isn't what I expected. I didn't enjoy the previous song, but this one isn't even close to as dogshit as I anticipated. Perhaps my expectations were too low, so now this sounds alright..?
Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors - Ah here we are, the complete and utter shit I was expecting. I was worried for a second that I might not hate this album as much as I anticipated!
Life in a Glasshouse - My favorite track on here, if the vocals were removed it may even be playlist worthy. I was absolutely not expecting a jazzy song on here. I nearly sat up straight when I heard the brass and clarinet.

Post Listen:
That was....better than expected? I mean, I expected absolute rat-infested trash, so I guess the bar was very low.

I don't even know how to explain why I dislike Radiohead so much. Maybe it's the depressed, self-hating, "Just how I'm wired" vibe they carry in most of their songs? Maybe it's the random experimental techniques they employ which never really work for me. Maybe it's from the type of people who really like Radiohead from my experience, who are ***generally*** disagreeable and annoying to be around. Maybe they're just fucking pretentious to me. Maybe it's even the band's weird hypocritical relationship to politics, not really practicing what they've preached.

Hey, on the bright side, this wasn't a 1/5 like I expected it to be! It had more variety than I expected, good moments, and one or two good songs. I will approach future Radiohead albums with a bit more grace, I guess. 3/5

Pre Listen:

Notable Tracks:
Sun It Rises - Woah, this wasn't what I was expecting at all. I love the folkish choir start to the song here, leading into a more acoustic arrangement. I hope the rest of the album stays this way, could be a goldie!
Blue Ridge Mountains - I like the instrumental work here, but the lyrics are kinda eh. Tennessee side of the Blue Ridge Mountains aren't even as good as the other parts, you can find in NC, GA, VA and WV and further north. The Tennessee parts are like, the most crowded and gentrified, just about until you hit PA :/. Except Chattanooga, love that place.
Oliver James - Least favorite track, the echo effects they used here are just terrible. They are so distractingly bad. Get out of a fucking cave dude!

Post Listen:
What a waste of potential, likely due to either the artist's insecurity or ignorance of their strengths, or pushes made by whatever studio published them.

This album is amazing when it sticks to a more folky, bluegrass and guitar style. When they're just strumming a tune, singing some simple lyrics, and keeping the song low in production and energy. Then butts in the ever frustrating "Millennial Rock" sound that I've grown to despise from albums of this time period. The needlessly added additional instruments, the needlessly layered vocals, the needless audio editing effects, the needless 'Ooo's and 'Aaa's that take up auditory space they have no business being in. Not every album needs to be a grand studio production, and especially not this one.

Absolutely frustrating, this could've been a 5 for me. 3/5

Pre Listen:
What the fuck does this title mean. This is something your high friend would say to you, and you'd both think it's groundbreaking, until you sober up the next morning. No experience with them, and no expectations!

Notable Tracks:
Love Lives Here - A real highlight of the album. The keyboard plugging along with the softer guitar and bass feels great.
Memphis - Least favorite track. It's odd I've had 2 albums now with nearly 2 months inbetween, where they yap about Memphis, and it's my least favorite track. This one sounds so tacky.
That's All You Need - Favorite track. Man that guitar solo in the midpoint is awesome. The introduction of whatever instrument that is towards the end is silly, but like, in an endearing sort of way.

Post Listen:
I feel like this is the sort of music I'd hear in a bar whilst drunk one night, perceive it as the best music I've heard in my life, but completely forget about it by morning.

I liked it, but it's just one of those albums where nothing really jumped at me as a whole, just small segments on the odd song or two. Everything was well done for the most part, even the vocalist with his scratchier voice grew on me. Most songs have this honky-tonkish bar sound to them, for better or for worse. I can smell the scent of beer on the mic through the sound alone.

Gonna give this one a 3/5 for now. If I'm wrong about this album being forgetable, and I still recall and enjoy the highlights on here a week from now, I'll bump this to a 4. Until then, 3/5.

Pre Listen:
Very striking album cover. I wonder if it has any symbolism, or if it's just some random nonsense. I like the weird clown looking dude on it. Never heard of this guy, so no expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Things Behind the Sun - Favorite track. Adding to my playlist, man I love the sound of this one. It's both melancholic and gentle, while being a bit eerie and hopeful? Very unique song.
Know - Least favorite song, it's the most repetitive sounding out of an already somewhat repetitive album. Nick's gonna break his guitar strings if he keeps strumming like that too.
Parasite - Another high point for me. The guitar chord progressions remind me of 'Hey Prudence' from the Beatles.

Post Listen:
I think this is the first all-acoustic, single musician album I've gotten on here so far? Pretty good one too, very nice.

I appreciate toned down albums like this one quite a bit. It helps that Nick's voice is really soft, soothing, and gentle, as is his guitar playing. Every song feels like a warm blanket, or sitting by a low fire on a cool summer evening. It also helped I was driving through rural mountain roads listening to this one, it felt very cozy and fitting. That said, the songs do start to get a bit repetitive, individually they are all great, but back to back they start to blend. Nick's got a style, and sticks with it, and there's nothing wrong with it, but for a full album I look for a bit more variety.

I may fall asleep to this album sometime. I think I'd sleep to it very well, 4/5

Pre Listen:
I reckon this is the Iggy that dog from Jojo is named after. That's about as far as my knowledge goes in relation to him. No expectations!

Notable Tracks:
The Passenger - I think I know this one. Sounds crazy familiar. Seems to be the most popular on the album by plays/views too. I wonder where/when/if I heard it?
Turn Blue - Somehow both my favorite and least favorite song on the album? Has really great moments and an overall good sound, but also some deep lows when Iggy decides to start yelling like a fool.

Post Listen:
This guy's voice could easily pass as David Bowie's. I wonder how he felt about the guy.

Solid music overall, the lyrics, vocals and instrumentation was all well done. It just wasn't very memorable in any way I could really find. Sounds like default rock and roll. I'd struggle to really place it in a specific rock-adjacent genre even. I'm struggling to even recall any other specific songs than the ones I mentioned, despite having just finished the album like an hour and a half ago.

It's like a plain bagel with some good jam and cream cheese; it's a good meal and you like it, but you'll almost certainly will forget having ate it in 2 days or less. 3/5

Pre Listen:
Never heard of them, but the album cover looks interesting. Hoping for a break from grungy, punky rock, so as long as it's not that I think I'll enjoy it?

Notable Tracks:
Banana - Oh god, it's going to be one of these albums, isn't it.
Amazon - My favorite track on here. One of the few I didn't dislike, and even liked just a little bit. I think she pulls her style off the best here.
U.R.A.Q.T. - Least favorite track on here, but not by much, as I didn't like most songs. This one in particular is just so repetitive, and has such a droning sound to it. Bleh.
Galang - Is she speaking Vortigaunt? Galunga Gang.

Post Listen:
This sounded like if Death Grips was girl pop and also a bit Latina to me. And also if Death Grips was less focused and on somehow more drugs.

I actually enjoy some of Death Grips' stuff, but I didn't really enjoy this all that much. While it was a very unique listen, it was also a bit too chaotic for my tastes. For me the best part of it was the beats, but to say it was the best compared to everything else isn't a high bar; they were passable. The lyrics and vocals were messy, one of those cases where the vocalist just sort of talks for most of the songs, and shows she *can* sing well if she wants to in others, but chooses not to most of the time. The sampling was complete garbo 90% of the time. Any song under 1 minute long was a miserable experience.

I can see girls with one or more mental illnesses out there really digging this album. No hate to them, I reckon they're lovely people, but this just ain't for me. 2/5

Pre Listen:
Another band I swear I've heard the name of somewhere before, but I just can't put my finger on when, where, or for what. No expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Silver Rocket - I really, really hope this album isn't full of scratchy unfocused wild noise segments, like the one that plays here shortly past the halfway point. The first song was pretty decent, this one isn't.
'Cross The Breeze - Favorite contender. Really nice instrumental work here, but the vocals/lyrics are entirely unecessary
Total Trash - Skipped this song halfway through. Least favorite track on here. At least the title is accurate!

Post Listen:
Sounds like a blend of emo and punk rock when someone is singing. Also sounds a lot more modern than 1988, I would've guessed something like late 90's or 2000's.

A lot of the instrumental work was actually pretty well done. Interesting melodies, each instrument is given time to shine, with solid playing overall and a good variety of sounds. The vocals were a little more mixed, sounds decent sometimes and very, very annoying at other points. The lyrics however were consistently bad or bland, just complaining about nonsense the entire time. The album was also quite lengthy, I think it's the 2nd longest one I've gotten on here so far. If not, it felt that way.

Feeling a 3 to 2 range. I'll round up to a 3 cause sometimes that guitar was really rockin. 3/5

Pre Listen:
The name Willie Colon sounds crazy familiar to me. I come from a Latino family, so who knows if I've heard him at some point growing up. Silly album cover, will this baby music? Slightly lower expectations than usual going in, but only *very* slight.

Notable Tracks:
Plastico - !!!! This isn't what I was expecting at all, this shit goes hard what the hell. The bass and brass are incredible. Unfortunately he DIDN'T mention Chile when taking roll call at the end of the song, and DID mention Argentina, so that's gonna have to be 1 full point off. I don't make the rules.
Siembra - My favorite track on here. It sounds like something out of Lupin the 3rd. Will be adding to my playlist!

Post Listen:
Out of respect for the music, the rest of this review will be in Spanish. Thank you for your understanding.

¡Qué placer escucharlo! Todo estaba muy bien logrado: los metales, las voces, la fluidez, la percusión... todo fue fantástico. Me encantó especialmente el trabajo de piano y violín. No odié ni una sola canción, ni siquiera un poco.

Lamentablemente, lo que dije en mi primera canción destacada sigue vigente. Cuatro de cinco. 4/5

Pre Listen:
Haven't heard of these guys, but the album title/cover is a bit on the nose. No expectations.

Notable Tracks:
Think Again | No Reason - I liked the bass work on a small sections of these tracks. I didn't like the overall song though at all, just the funky little bass moments. Give the bassist a raise, or better yet, put him on a band that lets him shine and doesn't loudly push him in the basement after a few seconds of sun.
Look Back And Laugh - Such riveting lyrics such as "Fuck it man" and "I don't like to be hurt" and "Talk your shit don't fuck with this". Sure I'll talk my shit, this shit sucks bruh! Every song sounds the same!
Little Friend - Stopped listening to the album here. I think I can make a wild guess how the last two songs sound, and I don't care to be subjected to this any more.

Post Listen:
I should've known the hot streak this project had going would end at some point. Yet more shiet punk where they just rip on the guitar and bang on the drums while screaming about problems they themselves likely created, over and over again, for every song.

It still baffles me how every punk album just sounds the same to me. It's so unforgivably formulaic for a movement that prides itself on being "different" from the establishment. Guitar is loud, drums are fast (and also loud), vocalist is upset/angry (and also loud), none are good though. The vocalist seems to think that by simply yelling into the mic it's classified as singing. Music for teenagers who got yelled at by their Mom or Dad once or maybe twice and took it really hard. Or music for meth heads who have gone one (1) day without meth.

"People talk loud when they want to act smart... so if we play loud, people might think we're good!" 1/5

Pre Listen:
I think I've listened to this one before, but it's been a while. I can't name any tracks off the top of my head, and I know I don't have any Deep Purple songs on my playlist, but I just know I've listened to this before. Hopefully I just forgot about it overtime just from bad memory, and not because I disliked it!

Notable Tracks:
Highway Star - Never mind I do have a Deep Purple song on my playlist, and it's this one. I'm glad I forgot simply due to my poor memory, and not any other reason, cause this song's a bop.
Smoke On The Water - Another banger I completely forgot was Deep Purple. I didn't have this one on my playlist, but I quickly remedied that.

Post Listen:
I've had so many albums in sequence that I've really loved this month, I feel as though I'm running out of ways to rephrase how and why I like them all.

The guitar was the highlight on this album for me, very impressive work on it. The lyrics are ok throughout, as was every other instrument. Good jams all around.

4/5