Reviews by soundowl

(Strong 7/10)

Speaking purely from how much I enjoyed this record, it's very good. A few songs didn't wow me as much but it's short and sweet, and the musicianship is pretty stellar. Jazz-trained indie rockers that also draw from psychedelic rock, there's really neat stuff that happens here.

Now...

My main beef that I wanted to share here on this site is my formulated opinion on the 1001 albums project. I'm only a couple hundred albums in, using the generator mainly to shuffle my listening experience. I also own two editions of the book. The 2016 one and the 2021 one. I foolishly paid 100 dollars for the newest one thinking it would be an overhaul when in reality they only replaced 5 albums with newer ones. So that felt like a scam. My other main gripe is the amount of (or lack thereof in this case) attention that the new millennium gets in comparison to the modern 20th century decades. The 60's through the 90's touch on obviously great and important albums in music history that would be required listening, but then you get a TON of filler. Like I seriously did not need to hear Paul Revere or The Electric Prunes before I died. The fact that so much of those decades are just filled with kitschy one-offs but the 2000's-2010's don't have MADVILLAINY or DEATH GRIPS or KGLW or hell ANY METAL MORE EXTREME THAN MASTER OF PUPPETS is BEWILDERING to me. The total focus on western/euro-centric music is also very disappointing. Like, they do TRY a LITTLE BIT with sprinkling some Hindustani music, Sufi Music, Hispanic and Latin music here and there, but East Asian music is hardly explored at all, African music hardly gets touched on (aside from the stuff that Paul Simon and David Byrne were hyping up), and it just feels like the potential for a book like this to seriously expand one's music taste was squandered (like the Louvin Brothers weren't THAT important were they??).

I say all this, because listening to White Denim today made me realize that the mission statement of the author and the editor was largely ignored and this became a collection of personal staff picks with some Western Culturally Important albums sprinkled in. This album is good, but it's not really anything new or boundary pushing or reinventing a worn-out genre. Music from the past 20 years is full of creative and dynamic and inspiring music, and Robert Dimery kinda just glosses over it without really taking it seriously. If the author dared to consider more extreme versions of metal, more electronic music, more underground Rap and Hip Hop, or even PUNK and EMO, you could EASILY fill out the past 20 years to a sizeable chunk that gives it the proper amount of time and dedication it deserves to have.

I think if Dimery wants to wait a few more years just to sprinkle a few more albums in and charge his readers 100 more dollars, he should instead start over, cut down the filler, keep it as NECESSARY as POSSIBLE with as much objective picks as you can. For when new music comes out that you feel needs mentioned, just release a new book for like the past ten years titled: "101 more albums from the past decade you must listen to before you die: A supplemental entry by Robert Dimery". Like, idk I think music fans who find this project interesting would probably appreciate that better, or at least I know I would.

So yeah, all that to say, this album is good! Just uh.... idk not "sitting on my death bed so glad I heard this album in my lifespan" good.

(Strong 7/10)

A great album is hidden amongst the vast quantity of material here. It starts off incredibly strong with a string of hits that are amongst him and Taupin's best, and then the rest of the record is a bit of a hodgepodge of great song ideas mixed with awkward writing and a handful of pastiche to go along with it. I think if this record were trimmed down more and the tracks rearranged, this record would be phenomenal. Sadly, that seems to be how it goes with the Elton John records I've heard thus far. His best albums to me always seem to be his greatest hits records. That being said, the only song I really didn't care for was "Jamaican Jerk-Off", everything else was pretty good or amazing.

(Strong 7/10)

A concept record that satirizes hippie culture and mocks conservative political stances and even crticizes the kent state shooting. It's quite an amazing thing to come out at this time, and also for it to be as well-loved as it was.

I think conceptually the album succeeds where some of the music kind of gets lost in the absurdity. The sound collage and music concréte that separates some of the tracks gets a bit too silly and off putting for me, but honestly that's Zappa for you. I think there's other stuff from him I enjoy better overall, but this one is pretty solid.

(Strong 7/10)

Pretty fun record! The lead single "Cisco Kid" is fun but I heard it a lot on the radio as a kid and it kinda wore off for me. The track that really blew my socks off was "City, Country, City". That jam was stellar and the way they play off of each other was super cool. The psyched out dirge of "Four Cornered Room" brought it down a bit for me, but really this album is just a good time. Will definitely grow on me more the more I hear it.

(Light 4/10)

Yeah idk, his vocals don't really command a ton of the presence that his poetry would require. There's some really neat stuff going on with the beats, but really at the end of the day this is not a memorable album and only a couple songs felt like they stood out. "Bladerunners" was pretty good actually, but I sort of attribute that to the featured artist. " To the Moon's Contractor" is actually a pretty mesmerizing instrumental, that on it's own is pretty fantastic. In the album though it sucks the progression through the floor and just makes this album DRAG. Idk, this is one of those confusing 1001 album entries and frankly, not having Deltron or Aesop Rock or El-P in the book is really really confusing when you listen to this.

(Light 9/10)

A very fun record with superb highlights and a kind of witty lyricism and "out there" chemistry that was very predictive of the conscious hip hop sub genre. For me the skits kind of chop up the album flow in a way that isn't very flattering to the project overall, but when it's good it's VERY good.

(light 7/10)

it was good
could have been shorter
I prefer Fela's approach to afrobeat I think

(Light to decent 6/10)

I'm not a movie buff, nor am I a film score enthusiast. I think that's why these albums don't click for me. Granted, this album has a lot more going for it than Moss Side Story did for me. I love the darkly disturbing sounds of "Business as Usual" and "Dirty Barry", and "Miles" sounds like something from the Spyro soundtrack. Everything after this; however, was extremely hit or miss. I really didn't care for the awkward Jarvis Cocker feature in the opening track, and Nick Cave's song was just OK. There were songs that didn't do much beyond paint an atmosphere, and songs that just coasted on by without as much of a memorable moment or hook or anything really. A lot of this album ended up sounding like musical wallpaper. Eh, at the end of the day I can see why the David Lynch's of the world would find this mesmerizing, just not me.

(Light 9/10)

If Sgt Peppers was Beatles at their peak creativity, White album is them at that same level but with no holds barred. This is what happens when an artist has unlimited reign to do whatever they want, and at this point in their career what better time to do so.

It's a bit scattershot, very bloated, but contains amazing gems and by the end of the record it's an experience you'll want to revisit.

(Strong 6/10)

I think the cultural significance of this record outweighs the impact of the music for me, frankly. It's pretty by-the-numbers for Bruce as far as the songs go, the actual thing of note would be his pretty radical difference of perspective following the 9/11 attack. Instead of rising up against a monolithic enemy, he instead calls for community and even offers a different perspective on the lives of people on the other end of the conflict. Even going so far as to try and get a glimpse into the mind of a terrorist on the song "Paradise". I think this record isn't bad by any means and I admire Bruce's willingness to tackle this subject in such a way that isn't blindly nationalistic and patriotic, I just think the music itself got bland after a while during the album's 72 minute runtime.

(10/10)

Incredibly forward thinking and endlessly entertaining, this album completely won me over and I have been listening to it a lot since I first heard it. Superb!

(Strong 7/10)

This album might be a bit of a grower for me, but I do think hearing Cohen's dark voice over these kitschy 80's synthpop backdrops is really entertaining. The poetry and lyricism are obviously the highlights here. The opening track combines the best of both together wonderfully with a super perky 80's-styled instrumental and that signature Leonard Cohen vocal delivery. "Tower Of Song" is also a super fantastic album closer, with very thoughtful poetry and a gentle backing vocal that does it's best to lift up an otherwise very melancholic tune. Everything in the middle is also more or less great, the weakest track being "Jazz Police". It just hasn't aged well as far as the songcraft itself goes. All in all, this a really pleasant album surprisingly for me, I just need to dig into the lyrics more and let the songs germinate in my mind.

(Decent 7/10)

I haven't really been into The Offspring in a while, and it's been really hard to take them seriously for an even longer time.. so that being said, my motivation for revisiting their older material has been pretty low. But man... this album is still pretty good.

It's energetic as hell and the vocals aren't AS annoying as they would end up becoming. It's just solid pop punk that fits the era perfectly. "Come Out and Play" is a true and blue fucking classic, I love everything about this song. Probably the first Offspring song I've ever heard if I'm remembering correctly. "Self Esteem" is good but I don't like it as much as some others do. "Gotta Get Away" is a great tune, and the ridiculousness of "Bad Habit" makes me smile still lol.

After the midway point the album starts to get a bit samey, but it doesn't wear out it's welcome really so by the time the album ends, it feels right. This isn't the most groundbreaking punk album in the world, but for how successful this album was and still is, I think that says enough. Too bad Offspring stopped trying this hard down the line after Americana.

(Strong 7/10)

I liked "If I should Fall" better than this one overall, but this record ain't half bad either. The album flow doesn't work as well as I would like, but really there's no shortage of good songs in this batch. It just needs a bit of a track shuffling I think.

(Strong 7/10)

If you're a fan of video game soundtracks and/or Toby Fox's music I think you'll find a lot to like about this.

Given it's rather primitive approach to synthpop, it's surprisingly immersive. Every track has this stiff and robotic feel to it at times, but depending on the setting the tracks can also feel incredibly futuristic and lush. My biggest gripe with the overall presentation is the vocals. I would almost rather not have them at all if I am being honest. It doesn't help that I had to listen to the english version because I couldn't do the German one on streaming for some reason. Apart from "The Model" all the lyrics do is state the name of the track very robotically, in a way that's kind of silly and takes me out of the music. If it was in German for me I do not think I would mind it as much, but eh it's something I could've done without to be frank.

Even still, this album and their many other records are all incredibly influential for a reason, pioneering the first steps into electronic music and it's eventual fusion into pop. Daft Punk wouldn't exist if it weren't for Kraftwerk and I definitely think classic game soundtracks for the Nintendo and Sega for instance wouldn't be what they are if it weren't for albums like this. Worth checking out!

(Light 8/10)

Has grown on me some

Yeah this is a band I've never been super duper into, and this album in particular has evaded my praise for a minute. It just always felt overrated as hell to me. Upon hearing it again today I'm starting to come around more on it.

I do really like the instrumental aspects of this record. The crazy diamond songs are phenomenal instrumentally. The guitars especially are impressive, but the overall atmosphere and sonic textures really sell those songs for me. "Have a Cigar" is incredibly funky for a Floyd song and the bass and guitar really go hard on it.

I'm not too much into "Welcome to the machine". Conceptually it's pretty good, but it feels like a significant chunk of the album's runtime is dedicated to this spaced out track and I find myself really disassociating during it, and not in the way I think was intended. Still there's some cool things that happen in that song, but given the transition from this to "Cigar" it makes the album flow a bit too jarring.

I'm also not super crazy about Roger's voice on this record? He sounds like he's way out of his range singing on a lot of these tracks. It feels awkward. The only time I was compelled by his voice was on the title track; which by the way, deserves the hype. It's definitely one of the greatest songs ever recorded. His voice is appropriately weary-sounding and if there's any Floyd song that would move me to tears it's this one (again trying not to think of when my father passes away, see my Cat Stevens review).

Altogether I think this album is pretty good, but sort of inconsistent given the relatively short runtime and limited batch of songs. This LP shows why PF were considered masters of their craft, but I think as far as album listening experiences go I might prefer DSotM to this one overall.

(Light 7/10)

The messaging is this album's biggest strength. There were a couple standout tracks with "wildfires" and "monsters" but I think musically it didn't grab my attention too much. It's a nice sounding record for sure.

(Solid 8/10)

A very important record. It in a lot of ways signified the end of the Grunge-era. Grunge music would persist past this point, obviously and eventually turn into the mixed-blessing of Post-Grunge.. But with this performance and recording the former half of the 90's was coming to a close. Kurt sounds tired, he sounds done, and nothing moreso telling than the final two tracks on this record. "All Apologies" reads as a suicide note to his career and his fans, the final pieces of the song playing out on repeat as a sorrowful band plays on. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" is a powerful cover of a Lead Belly blues classic where Kurt bares it all and lays it on the line with his most emotionally soul-rending wail on the final chorus.. and a meek "thank you" as it ends.

I'm not the hugest Nirvana fan, but what their music represents for a lot of people is important, and even more so it helped pave the way for rock music and songwriting as a whole to progress away from the glitter and glam of the 80's into a more authentic and real place of inspiration. Popular music didn't need to be over-produced and mechanically orchestrated to be widely loved and accepted, all it needed was honesty and integrity and almost like a miracle Kurt, Dave and Krist proved that.

This final recording is a funeral march for someone who hadn't yet passed. It's a collection of original songs and covers that feels like an artist's brain opening up and showing you the inner workings. It's a fascinating moment in music history for sure.

All that to say, this record is certainly fantastic and definitely one of the greatest live recordings ever possibly. I wish some of the song choices were a little better, personally "On a Plain" and "Polly" I could do without. I don't think the former works for this kind of setting and "Polly" is very disturbing as a song, and it's never been my favorite Nirvana track as a whole anyway.

That being said, the covers are all amazing. Like the aforementioned Lead Belly song, but also David Bowie's "Man Who Sold The World" was claimed by Cobain on this night. Talk about a haunting rendition of an already dour track. Meat Puppet's "Lake of Fire" sounds like an original Delta Blues dirge the way Kurt performs it, and his strained voice fits perfectly for this one. The guitar picking is also superb.

Yeah it's a great album. It's really good. An essential piece of music not just for the 90's, but for alternative and rock and for the counterculture of the youth. It's almost the gateway drug for every teen who enters their angst phase. It does stick with you though.

Thanks for the tunes Kurt.

(Light 6/10)

I do not fully understand the hype behind this record sadly.
To me this sounds very underdeveloped, and just a bit lazy. Jason Pierce from Spiritualized does this kind of thing way better and with more artistry in my eyes.

The overall sound is pleasant, but the image of Mick Jagger overdosing on psychedelics and being given a sequencer was repeating through my head the entire time. I've read this album bridged a gap between electronic dance music and rock, but aside from Movin' On Up I don't quite hear that. So yeah, that is to say, I do not get it.

(decent 6/10)

For all the good things this album has, it also has a lot dragging it down. Good stuff includes: Chunky unique guitar playing, incredible singles, Bad stuff: Still robotic drum playing (drum machine???), awkward lyrics, and the 80's style production wasn't utilized super well. Makes for decent background music though when driving.

*Tries to wash the image of Billy Gibbons 69'ing out of my head*