Reviews by simonh

I had no idea the guy from the Toy Story theme wrote Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear, or You Can Leave Your Hat On.
There no song on here over 3½ minutes and some are under 2 minutes. He doesn't muck about with bloat does he! Bravo.
The voice isn't technically the best but it delivers a great collection of songs.

I like a lot of this but I'm not keen on the "mononess" of the recording. I think it could be mixed much better than this.

Also I personally find it way too long... but then I'm not planning on getting spaced out and dancing to it until the sun rises.
But I applaud people who do.

This album was made 45 years after the last Cohen album I had, which I hated.
This is an improvement.
It's listenable for a start.
He still doesn't seem to do upbeat, but he has hired a good choir and backing singers. Most of the songs seen to be about God or the Devil. It's so bassy that when he does tey to move up the register it sounds like he's going to split something.
Overall ok. But I just don't want to listen to his downbeat dirge on a regular basis.
2½

Classy album.
This is American, middle of the road, inoffensive radio rock. But I don't mind. It contains a couple of absolute classics tracks but none of the others are bad, in particular the Donald Fagen sung tracks (which are most of them).

My second JAMC album after Psycho Candy, which didn't grab me at all.

The songs are, again, repetitively samey. The overuse of reverb remains. But the background feedback has gone. They still remind me of the Stone Roses (of course I know they came first) with a bit of upbeat Leonard Cohen thrown in.

Better than Psycho Candy. But not much.

They went off my radar after the brilliant Making Plans For Nigel and Senses Working Overtime.
I don't know why.
I guess radio didn't like them?
After just one listen I can rate this as an excellent collection of songs.
I will listen again.

I knew nothing about NIN until I saw them at Reading festival about 10 years ago.
Well I say I saw them... what I actually saw was the shadows of some figures through the smoke and dry ice on the stage and an extraordinary light show. It was hugely memorable but I never saught out any of their albums so listening to this is something I've been looking forward to.
And I'm not disappointed.
When I listen to any album the first time it's naturally the music I concentrate on. And this is a sonic explosion. Sounded great on heaphones. But all I picked up from the lyrics was that NIN must be really into pigs. Later I read that it's an album laden with anger and angst. So that must be what all the screaming was about?
I will seek out more NIN.
But then I said that 10 years ago.

Lovely baritone voice reminiscent of Johnny Cash. And good songs. None better than Everybody's Talking. Why they didn't use his version in Midnight Cowboy I don't know but that's history and probably why nobody outside of his fandom has heard of him.

Pleasant album spoiled by the final track.
Also generally a bit too much harmonica.

Very listenable for hip-hop.
I can understand why it received rave reviews.
It's a shame it all went to Kanye's head. He needs help not derision.

Some good immersive sounds but the whole album is held together by reverb. Gets tiresome after half an hour and unfortunately I'm only half way through.

Individually some of the tracks weren't actually that bad.
But as a collection when I'm praying for it to be over then it can only be a 1 star.
I know why the Lion is in a coma.

I can't remember how I've rated other Miles Davis albums in the past but I don't think I've been overly friendly.
On the contrary, this is mellow, chilled and dead cool.

Another unknown (to me) early 70s album.
Follows the standard 70s recipe...key changes, mixed time signatures and tempo everywhere. Throw in a bit of Hammond organ, great guitar and bass and mix for at least 6 months.
I enjoyed this greatly.

A great collection of typically 70s rock glam. Held together but the dulcet unmistakable tones of Ian Hunter. Not the greatest voice, but then neither is Rod Stewart's.
4½

Look. I like The Who.
But Tommy all seems so rushed. Like they went into a studio in the morning with a story and no music, and they'd knocked out a double album by teatime. It's a bit like modern comedy sketches of West End/Broadway musicals where they just stick any old melody onto any old dialogue.

There are a few great tunes on here. Pinball Wizard for one. And some really bad stuff. Underture, a 10 minute jam that sounds like it was recorded because they had a bit of studio time left. And Fiddle About? that's rather unsavoury and I don't particularly want to know where the idea came from.
Most of the good stuff is unfortunately mixed up with a lot of chaff. The only time I saw The Who play live, they extracted chords from here and lines from there and just played those. I think they knew that the album as an opus didn't really work.
The good stuff is very good.

This started off ok.
As a rock and metal lover I really wanted to like it.
But it switly went downhill.

...And then somebody got some fucking bagpipes out.

A cross between Thom Yorke and an operatic Danny Kaye in places. Except this is an overtramatic emotional drone of dross with none of Radiohead's melodic or production redeeming features, and none of Kaye's nuance or storytelling genius.

Of course nobody deliberately makes an album of impressions. So it's not Rufus' fault that he sounds like these other guys.

And even though I have heard of him, after a single listen to this overlong album, with the insult of an excrutiating 'bonus' track that definitely was no bonus - this is consigned to the bin lorry.
1½

I admit the snarling nasal voice does tone down somewhat as he gets older, but on here it's in insufferable overdrive and it cancels out any toleration credits that are earned by the presence of a couple of minor hits (Accidents Will Happen & Oliver's Army). All the other tracks are gratingly similar.

Regarded as a generational talent. I just don't get it.

Standout track is California Dreaming.
The rest of the tracks are a bit 'variety show' cover. Even Monday Monday is kinda dull in retrospect.
But no doubting the harmonies are great, even though the orchestral and session arrangements behind them sound weak.

3.
+1 for California Dreaming.
-1 for the album cover apostrophe abuse.

I have no problem with Morrissey.
I don't care if he whinges all the time or whether he is a vegan or not.
At least he has something to say.
And the music was ok too.

Easy listening jazzy funk.
I wouldn't say this is "jazz" as it has been described. It all sounds pretty preplanned to me. It's funk with long solos.
Great foot tapping chill-out music.