Reviews by stade

What the hell was that??? Straight garbage from beginning to end. The vocals are a drunken, mumbling mess, with "L.A." being a highlight in how annoying Mark E. Smith's singing can be. The backing instrumentations aren't much better - at their best they're basic and repetitive; at their worst they're competing with the vocals in being as annoying as possible (the harmonica on Couldn't Get Ahead somehow wins that one). I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, muffled and slurred as they were, but I don't think I'm missing much if Spoilt Victorian Child is anything to go by.
Dogshit. Just pure, concentrated booty.

The first listen was very fun. Zuton Fever is an instant earworm and sets up the vibe of the album pretty well - a kind of wacky vibe that's also present in the cover art. I liked that every song feels very different from one another, while staying coherent with the sound of the band.
Unfortunately a lot of the weirdness and wackiness that was fun and interesting the first time around, got real old on further listens. I found myself skipping a lot. It's a tough one to review then, because I truly enjoyed it a lot at the beginning.

Standouts: Zuton Fever • Havana Gang Brawl • Not A Lot To Do

Van Halen cooks some absolute guitar riff wizardry here. If Electric Ladyland hadn't come up earlier on the list, this is what I would have imagined Hendrix to sound like.

I debated giving this a 5, but I'm not sure how well it's gonna stick with me long-term. I'm 3 listens in, and I can only really recall You Really Got Me.

That said, I do know what to put on when I want to hear some sick riffs in the future.

Standouts: You Really Got Me • Jamie's Crying • On Fire

This album is fun as hell. It's super goofy - there's a 4min track of yo mama jokes; at one point they smoke a blunt with a 4yo kid - but the beats are good and they're all rapping their ass off. Just don't mind the dated lyrics here and there.

The energy was on point from track 1, but it was only until No One Has that I really started ROCKIN.
There's some very good stuff on here, but there's also a lot of ehhh which holds it back from a 4.

Standouts: No One Has, If I Think, In 'n' Out Of Grace

These German dudes were fucking around with synths in 1977 and truly ended up in the future - a lot of this sounds like electronic music from much later that I enjoy now. Now that's cool and all, but the listening experience here is just ok. I didn't totally vibe with the robot voice.

Neil Young was sadly not the vibe today. Now, the instrumentations and atmosphere were actually pretty great! I just don't think they were unique enough to warrant tolerating Young's singing style, which felt more like rambling than anything else. For The Turnstiles was an especially rough listen.
I'm sure I could eventually warm up to this album and enjoy it, because it certainly had some cool stuff going on. Maybe a future Neil Young project will win me over, who knows.

Standout: On The Beach

You can never know what to expect on a foreign album with a language barrier, but the vibes completely won on Lam Toro. These guys know rhythm!! I also noticed some remarkably clean production, and I highly recommend listening to Sy Sawande with headphones on - it's a simple track, but the way the guitars were recorded is ear candy.
Had a lot of fun with this one!

Standouts: Hamady Boiro • Daniibe • Sy Sawande • Ndelorel • Minuit

I want to say I liked this, but at the same time almost nothing stuck with me. A lot of it sounded like a other stuff I've heard before. Maybe that's a testament to its influence? I don't know. It was fine.

Standout: If I Can't Change Your Mind

What can I say, this is one of the R&B GOATs. The songs are ear candy, with some incredibly evocative storytelling if you care to dig deeper.
And I just have to mention my love for the ending track, the sound design just puts you straight into that scene, and there's something about it that makes it a comforting, if bittersweet, end to the album.

I remember it taking me a while to get into his music, so had this been my first listen, it might have been rated lower. By now though, I have had many years and memories with it, and it deserves nothing but the fattest of 5s.

Standouts: Sierra Leone, Sweet Life, Pyramids, Lost

Did Bitte Orca NEED to be on the list? Questionable... I didn't fall in love with the album, but it's a unique, quirky experience and a welcome breath of fresh air through the usual early rock stuff on here.
I put this on the speaker, and looking past the sometimes overbearing vocalizations, it was a decently fun vibe.

Standout: Useful Chamber

Sort of bland... I somehow expected this to be a quirky '90s alt-teen experience. Instead the whole thing just kind of came and went.

Standout: Hannah & Gabi

Fat fucking riffs

Standouts: The Straightener • Changes • Snowblind • Laguna Sunrise

Pet Sounds was my very first album on this challenge, and my feelings toward Smile are much the same - I love the production, but the cotton-candy sweetness of their singing wears thin real fast.
It feels really silly to dislike something so cheerful and whimsy in sound, especially given the sheer ambition on display. It's all the more a shame to not fully enjoy the project in light of Brian Wilson's passing yesterday.
Try as I might, though, I just can't seem to vibe with the music.

Standout: Heroes & Villains

Lots of weirdness but none of it sounds very good. It's so dramatic and flamboyant it makes me want to set myself on fire

Now, I considered myself a Certified ’60s Hater, having had a rough time with other classic albums from that era (Pet Sounds, My Generation, etc.).
Somehow, The Everly Brothers totally sidestep that hate and deliver something genuinely fun. In concept it's laughably basic - all of it's just kind of dated songs about love and girls - but it manages to be really charming in its simplicity. By the end of the record I was ready to go out and buy my girl some flowers.
Very unexpected 4 from me, in a rare W for the 60s.

Standouts: It's Always You • Donna Donna

Pretty good grungy textures and atmosphere all through the album, contrasted with Shirley Manson's absolutely beautiful voice.
I think my one gripe is that at a certain point, all of the tracks start to feel the same. They're all technically good, but even the standouts don't have very memorable moments. Solid experience nonetheless!

Standouts: A Stroke Of Luck • Fix Me Now

PRIMAL, ENERGETIC, MENACING, NOISY, MATHEMATIC. MUSIC TO RAM THROUGH A FUCKING BRICK WALL 👹🐂

Standouts: Luau, New Intro, Sinews

Bowie does two sides really well: the all gas no brakes first half, and the slower, provocative, soundscapey second half. There is no transition between the two. What context calls for an album sequenced like this? .....I don't have an answer. I'll instead choose to see it as two very different but delicious cakes, and in that sense this is an excellent music experience.

Highlights: Sound and Vision, Subterraneans

First Bowie experience. He has an uniquely theatrical vocal style. The accompanying instrumentals are very layered, very fun. Dirty Boys has a sax and guitar combo that goes pretty hard.
It would probably take more than a few listens to really get this album. Nothing has me immediately coming back to it, though I doubt that an album this late in his career is an appropriate entry point for a first time listener.
Still some solid music tho