Reviews by slinky

Really solid album. I dug the harmonies and the overall flow. I see why they added Neil Young the next year, though. The trio was missing something, and apparently that something was a guy I don't even like. Against all odds, Neil Young made a band better. Marrakesh Express is a banger. 4/5.

I think I just am unable to appreciate most Jazz, as I wanted to like this and BB King is clearly talented but I was ultimately glad that the album was so short. I did enjoy the song "How Blue Can You Get" which has the line "I've been downhearted baby, ever since the day we met" that was sampled on Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand. 2/5

Didn't really care for the slow songs other than "They Won't Go When I Go," which is layered perfectly and blasts passionate soul into your bones. My other favorite two songs were "Boogie On Reggae Woman" which was an upbeat funk fest and Please Don't Go, just an overall enjoyable tune. I liked this album more than I thought I would. 3/5

I know The Pogues are a well-known band, but I wasn't familiar with their music before today. The opening track made me feel like I was being yelled at by a drunk pirate who had cornered me at a pub. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it did put me on edge.

Then there's a silly song about Jesse James that feels like it wandered in from an entirely different album.

But by far the star of the show is this slow little banger called "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day," which, in a stunning case of false advertising, is not sung by a man at all. I had to look up who was singing because I hadn't heard another female voice on the album. Turns out it's their bassist, Cait O'Riordan. I could listen to her velvety Irish voice sing the phone book. Easy 10/10 track and one I'm genuinely glad this album introduced me to. 4 stars baby

There are a couple songs that are okay to listen to, but the only one I actually enjoyed was "Only God Knows Why." Weird album overall. Some songs are rock, some are country, some are rap, and somehow none of those genres seem particularly happy to be sharing an album together.

One of the rap songs (I don't remember which one, but that's neither here nor there) was just Kid Rock slowly rhyming stupid shit like he was making it up on the spot and nobody had the heart to tell him they were recording.

2/5, and that's being very, very generous.

Some albums have great album covers but the music stinks (looking at you King Crimson) and some tapped out on making a nice cover, like Brothers, but the music is enjoyable. This was a pretty good listening experience, none of the tracks were 5 star level but there were enough 4 star experiences that my overall review is about the same. 4/5

Newman has a strange voice. It's either really good for a bad singer or maybe really bad for a good singer. Regardless I like listening to him and his voice gives the album a milquetoast personality that somehow resonates with this dead heart. The songs themselves are pretty consistently good without ever blowing me away. It's basically an album full of 3-star songs maybe one 4 and one 2, but almost everything else lands right there. Nothing groundbreaking but an enjoyable listen throughout.

The first part of the album is pretty straightforward guitar-driven rock, and honestly, it all starts to feel a little one-note. The bluesier second half worked better for me, especially You Shook Me, with some tickling of the ivories that is simply delightful. It’s a slow, bluesy little ditty that picks up steam at times but stays funky throughout. If the whole album sounded more like that, maybe I’d like it more or maybe I’d just complain there was too much of that instead. Either way it was by far my favorite track on an otherwise pretty forgettable album. 2/5

Apparently this is one of the greatest rock albums ever made, and I spent 67 minutes waiting to figure out why. Nothing here is particularly bad but nothing grabbed me either. Even the supposed standouts like Tumbling Dice and Rocks Off just sound fine. I really like Gimme Shelter (not on this album), so I know the Rolling Stones are capable of making me give a shit. This album just never did.

I imagine the CIA has used this album to get terrorists to divulge information. It’s two hours of the worst kind of British rambling rock, where every song feels like it started 10 minutes ago and forgot where it was going. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, some of the tracks are live performances that somehow sound even worse. By the end I was ready to confess to shit I didn’t even do.

I like Kate Bush’s voice, and I like the overall sound of this album, but somehow I don’t actually like any of the songs. I’m not even sure why. They aren’t catchy, fun, interesting, or bad enough to complain about. They just sort of… exist. It’s like someone sealed the sound of the late ’80s in Tupperware, then forgot to put any songs in it. A perfectly preserved time capsule of the era, just from the lower shelf.

2/5

A whole bunch of bangers sang live, what's not to like?

I was ready for some Miles Davis to blow me away and I just don't get this album at all. It feels like two hours of elevator music where every once in a while somebody remembers they're supposed to be playing jazz and makes some noise. Nothing grabbed me, nothing made me want to turn it up, and mostly I just kept checking to see how much was left. Maybe I'm just not a jazz guy, but if this is one of the greatest jazz albums ever made, we may have a problem. 1/5

I'm torn because the two bangers on this album are really good, but the rest of the album is fine. Great if you like Stipe's register, but it sort of all kind of sounds the same to me. In between a 3 and a 4, ultimately I think a 3 because I would never really seek out a relisten to this whole album.

On a second listen I realize I liked it more than a 3, like a 3.7. So it gets a 4/5.

Itsari and Jasco are on an island by themselves on this album and unfortunately for the rest of the album, it's an island I'd rather be on. Jasco is a short but sweet, almost classical guitar style instrumental, while Itsari is an absolute banger built around a melodic native american chant that I could have listened to for hours. Neither sounds remotely like the scream style heavy metal surrounding them, which makes their inclusion a little baffling but very welcome.
The rest of the album is strong instrumentally, but the lyrics and singing style are just not my groove. I can appreciate the musicianship, but apparently my two favorite songs on a metal album are the ones where nobody is shrieking at me. 2 stars for the two songs I liked.

Album flows nicely, energy never lets down. 3 bangers from this album, not sure where it falls in their discography but it feels like one that probably put them on the map. 4/5

Spent the whole album thinking it was a German band, apparently they are Slovenian. Regardless, I don't know what to make of this. The music and some of the rhythm sounds alright, but it is so mismatched with the heavily accented vocals that I could just never settle in. It wasn't painful to listen to but it also wasn't enjoyable. Also it's kind of weird that they have essentially two different covers of a song (Life is Life by Opus) on this album only a few years after the original came out. Or maybe that was the point, but it just didn't hit for me. 2/5

Dug this, just needed a rainy day but alas can't change the weather. 3.5 stars on a partial scale, enjoyable so we will do a little bumpity bump up to 4 stars.

Enjoyed it, on board with what they were trying to do. If I could go half stars I would do 3.5, but in this case we are rounding down as it just didn't quite get all the way to being a round up candidate.

3/5 enjoyable listen, one great banger