Reviews by stade

This gave me occasional flashes of The Cure, but poppier. It's a bit weird that a 2005 album sounds 15 years older than it is, but it's pretty alright.

"En garde, I'll let you try my Wu-Tang style!"
RZA's production is a fucking treat - dark, grimy beats that get your head bopping, as it should be for this sort of rap. And the use of martial arts movie samples? Absolute peak 🔥
This is, however, a Method Man joint, and good production only gets him so far. His energy and delivery are great, but his flow and rhymes are nothing mind-blowing or deep.

A 1986 album that mostly sounds 20 years older than its contemporaries. Elvis puts a "modern" twist here and there, but when it's riffing off the worst era of rock music to begin with, it's just not very appealing.

The arrangements here are so so so gorgeous. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" was so beautiful on first listen that I had to take some time to process it. And then once more after "Chicago".
The storytelling is another of Sufjan's strengths, though it does take some digging on Genius to fully understand it. Still, it made Casimir Pulaski Day one of my favorite songs here.

With such high highs, what does end up bringing the album down a bit is its 74min runtime. It feels harsh to say because the Illinois concept is genuinely so fun and unique, and every track an important contribution to that.... it just ends up diluting itself a bit by the end.

The concept behind this album is pretty interesting for its time, I'll give it that. I liked some of the humour and lyricism here and there.

Musically, I don't think I enjoyed a single song. The commercial jingles were the high points on here, ironically enough. I suppose it's an era of Rock that continues to elude me. 1.5/5

Short and sweet listen. Bangin instrumentals. I can see how the singer's voice could be polarizing, but it never took me out of the songs too much.
Standouts: Oh, Me • I'm A Mindless Idiot

Excellent basslines and synths. They are really good at setting an ambience!
The run from Fascination Street to Disintegration was absolute 🔥 on my first listen.
Somehow that enjoyment dwindled past that first experience though, and that same run of 5-9min tracks was feeling a tiny bit stretched out by the end of my second/third listen.
I respect the talent so much, but I don't think it quite makes it into my rotation!

Edit: 8 months later, it has somehow found its way into my rotation. I'm not the most darkwave-pilled guy, but this album really grew on me! Up from 3 to 4 stars.

This one wasn't really my thing. The slower songs to take up most of the album, and I felt they didn't do anything very interesting in that time.
At least when the pace does pick up, on songs like You Can't Have Me and Till The End Of The Day, it does get pretty good.

One must not be fooled by the name "Cowboy Junkies"; this defied my expectations of what country music could be. It's slow but never boring, with beautiful instrumental work and a very pleasant singing voice. Super chill 52 minutes.

Standouts: Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis) • Dreaming My Dreams With You

What surprised me here was the production, which absolutely SHINED and complemented Madonna's voice beautifully. Lots of musical details - like the little guitar riffs all throughout Skin - make this a very fun and textured album that will be great to revisit.

Standouts: Skin • Nothing Really Matters • To Have and Not to Hold

Hella funky, hella groovy, tons of variety from song to song.
I don't quite see this one making it into my rotation, but for the purpose of the challenge it was a banger.
Standouts: Rockafeller Stank • Gangster Trippin

I was expecting something groovier and more latin influenced from the band that brought us Low Rider. Heartbroken to say that this fell flat for me.

A couple of times I thought to myself, "perhaps this is the album that gets me to enjoy the folk genre". Songs like Over the Hill were very enjoyable, and mixed with some more jazzy elements on other tracks consistently kept it fresh.
Ultimately I'm not quite there yet with the genre, but this was one of the better examples of it I've had. Not a bad listen!

This is some jazz that anybody, from the turbonormies to the jazzheads, can enjoy 🔥 Bravo Mr Davis

It's funny, the beats here are heat, the flow is acrobatic, and anytime I checked the lyrics I was impressed by Jeru's skill with the pen.
And yet, I feel like it somehow fails to stand out much compared to other similar albums from this era. As technically impressive as it is, I don't see myself coming back to it much, though it is some good fuckin boombap.

Talking Timbuktu was very refreshing at this point in the challenge. Laid back and full of warmth, it had me in a good mood with just its first few songs.
Although some of the middle tracks felt a bit drawn out on first listen, the overall vibe was strong enough to briefly make me consider a 5⭐️. Definitely one I will keep in the rotation and could see growing on me with time.

Once again an album where the vocalist gets massively carried by a phenomenal band. At times the singing sounds like bad karaoke underneath layers of reverb. This put me off enough that I can't *quiiiiite* justify a 3. Solid project otherwise!

First Hendrix experience here. As daunting as the runtime was, this album offers so many bangers that I can't quite complain. Phenomenal guitar playing all around that makes you wonder if this is even from the 60s - by this point in the challenge I thought that era was all roots and blues. No wonder this guy's a legend!

Very talented band, but the vocalist got on my nerves by the end of the album with constant voice cracks and angsty delivery
Standout: The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime

With such an iconic opening track, I felt a bit let down that the sound never built up or shifted in any surprising way. Instead, it’s *ei o let's go* on repeat, and nothing particularly revealing or adventurous past that.
Still, it's certainly impressive how consistently fun this album is all the way through.