Reviews by stade

Compared to Disintegration, the shorter runtime on this makes it a lot more palatable. The instrumentals are once again fantastic and set a dark, dramatic, and texturally rich atmosphere. I really like that side of it!

Robert Smith, on the other hand, sounds tortured and depressed as always. I get that that's the whole point, but musically I just find him kind of grating, and three listens in I still can’t seem to appreciate the vocals. It’s hard to go higher than a 3 when I struggle with the most central part of the band.
Great album, just not going into my rotation.

Standouts: One Hundred Years • The Hanging Garden • Cold

The one and only. The classic. The blue-tinted masterpiece. Moody atmospheres. Motherfucking John Coltrane? Can't get any classier. Bravo Mr. Davis!

GREAT instrumentation and variety, the energy is great, and although it often has some rambling and slightly off-key vocals, it somehow kinda works. Good!

Standouts: Pablo Picasso • She Cracked • Modern World

For such a revered album this was kind of a dud... Without nostalgia, the acoustic songs did nothing for me, and the rest sounds like sports bar music -- "boomer anthems", as one reviewer put it. Stairway To Heaven is good but really doesn't live up to the hype, or even to its 5 minute buildup.
I haven't lost hope for Led Zeppelin though. This last track is awesome.

2.8/5

Standout: When The Levee Breaks

These guys are insanely talented at playing the same song for 57 minutes. Sometimes they would have an interesting idea at the start of a track to have you think it's finally gonna be a good one - and then they go back to the exact same sound you've heard for the past 7 tracks.

Not terrible, not enjoyable.

Standout: the sick nasty bass groove at the start of Rain When I Die (that got promptly replaced by some bland shit)

Felt a lil nostalgic sometimes, but mostly generic...? Idk, I don't think I'd return to it. I kept thinking about the Queen album the whole time.

It had some cool drum and guitar parts though!

Standouts: Race for the Prize • The Spark That Bled

Even before Freddie starts singing, the guitar is so Queen in sound, it's awesome. INSANE production quality. The songs are full of theater kid energy that would normally put me off, and yet....
If there's one complaint I have, it's that it's really not structured like an album, more just a collection of songs. Thus, as incredible as Bohemian Rhapsody is, it comes out of nowhere in the context of the album. At least it has a cute outro in God Save The Queen.

Standouts: Death On Two Legs • I'm In Love With My Car • You're My Best Friend • Seaside Rendezvous • Bohemian Rhapsody

Great energy, I loved the live ambience with the brief spoken transitions between tracks. Giving it a 3 because much like an actual jazz fest show, I don't think it quite makes it into my rotation, although it was a good experience and I'm happy to have listened.

The front half of the album is EXCELLENT - near 5⭐️ territory. But starting with Round The Bend, the album shifts into a more ambient-oriented sound that sort of loses me, although I can see the thematic significance behind it. Idk, maybe I'm not heartbroken enough for it.

Tentative 4 because the front half is that good. It might need to grow on me some more.

Standouts: The Golden Age • Paper Tiger • Lonesome Tears

A surprisingly strong example of politically conscious rap. It does dip into #im14andthisisdeep territory now and then, but I suppose his heart is in it, and it's a rawness and honesty that I can respect - if nothing else, at least the pen game behind it all is consistently impressive.

The album does also benefit from great production, not just from the excellent jazzy beats, but also its storytelling through the use of samples. On that note, my personal highlight on this album is the intermission track INS Greencard A-19 cleverly evoking some of the alienation and red tape immigrants face through sound design alone. Sad to say that the hysteria on illegal immigration has only gotten worse since.

Overall it's far from perfect, but I think it treads ground that not many hiphop albums do, and I think that does deserve some recognition.

Standouts: Satanic Reverses • Language Of Violence • INS Greencard A-19 191 500 • Music and Politics

I was wondering when the first Beatles album would show up on the list. As unfamiliar as I may be with them, I know how iconic and revered Sgt. Pepper is, and I’m glad to have gotten the chance to hear it and learn about its context.

Historic importance aside... it’s fine. Some of it’s catchy (I like both title tracks), and I totally see the vision with the big ending. But honestly, the meat of the album was only OK for me, aside from a few standouts. Definitely an album to hear before ☠️, but not one I’d return to.

It’s far from '60slop, I’ll give it that!

Standouts: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (both versions) • With a Little Help from My Friends • When I’m 64 • A Day in the Life

None of these songs were in lilo & stitch 🤔

The falsetto voice suuuuuucks, and the lyrics aren’t helping. Right from the opener, you’ve got bad lines like “disowned us daddies like the poopers of the party,” delivered with an off-putting cadence that plagues a lot of the album.

Thankfully, tracks 8-10 save this from being a total disaster. This Is Our Lot actually cooks, and the transition from Underbelly into Empty Nest was genuinely a cool moment.

Standout: This Is Our Lot

Bluesy, country-influenced rock.... Flashy guitar passages..... Visions of Mick Jagger..... Much like all past Rolling Stones, this album was sadly doomed to a 2....

This has to be among the most interesting '60s rock albums we've had yet. There's a lot of experimentation and effects that sound ahead of their time, like the reversed guitars on Thoughts and Words. It's still a 60s rock album though, so 3 is the best I can do.
Shoutout to Glorp on track 3.
Standouts: Thoughts and Words • Time Between

Great variety of beats, with the bass and drum selections being a frequent highlight across the album. The low end on Changeling had my apartment shaking, it's so fire. Overall it's an album that I'm sure to revisit for the vibe.

Standouts: Changeling • What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4 • Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain

I'm a very visual guy. Metal albums tend to put me off because of their cover art looking like dick. Ironically, I do usually enjoy the genre a lot, so I'm aware that this dumb prejudice has kept me from experiencing many great albums.
I'm glad, then, that Iron Maiden popped up on this challenge, because I know I never would've checked them out with this ugly-ass ghoul thing on the cover. And I would have missed out on some sick fuckin shredding and nonstop bangers. The songwriting caught me off-guard with how melodic it gets at times.
Goooood stuff.

Standouts: Prowler • Phantom Of The Opera

Oof. I think my appreciation for Kraftwerk starts and ends with admiring their role in early electronic music. Some of the sounds here reminded me of classic video game soundtracks, which is pretty cool. But man, the actual listening experience is *rough* by today’s standards. Most tracks feel like 90-second ideas stretched way past their welcome. Their robot voice I didn’t love on The Man-Machine is back, and I still don't care for it much. It was only until Frank Schubert that I really started vibing… and of course, that’s right about when the album ends.
Overall, it's far from being bad, but I didn't care much for it. Much respect for their appreciation of public transport though 🚆

Standouts: Frank Schubert • Endless Endless

What a freaking journey, man. This album takes you through so many moods, at times switching them up all rapid-fire like, but with a real sense of narrative behind it all. I could not tell you exactly what the intended story about - all I know is it's a ballet with a black saint and a sinner lady somewhere in there - but the emotional beats, the musical callbacks, the cathartic fuckin ending, they're all pretty evocative even without any lyrics. Hell, I'd consider the Spanish guitar as its own character the way its appearance (and later reappearance) had me hyped the fuck out. Incredible stuff that goes beyond just jazz here. Love the way everything comes together.

It'll need a few more listens to fully digest, especially the more cacophonic parts, but I feel good about a 5 given the peaks it had on these first two listens

There's a bit of everything on this album, lots of different moods and genres. It's clear the band was having a hell of a time, so even though I didn't love all of it, the vibes were consistently good. Fun listen!

Standouts: Do Nothing, Holiday Fortnight