Reviews by sterry2289

Grew on me throughout - a cool new (to me) version of folk music. There were spots in the first listen where I was cursing the all powerful LIST, but as it went on I enjoyed it. Morrisey vibes on vocals. I think 3 for my personal taste but deserves a 4 and feeling generous today.

Very nice. Knew the name but didn’t know his was the King of Rock and Soul. Good tunes, will come back for more.

I see the videos of people singing Mr. Brightside or The Killers in concert with the crowd singing the anthems and feel I totally missed the boat. These anthems feel like songs you had to listen to while with friends, getting drunk, when you were a teenager. For whatever reason this just wasn’t what we listened to in those days and I don’t think I can retrospectively get into it. When I listen now I only think “I don’t get it”. Respect it but a blind spot for me. Disco beat always works. Does he have a fake British accent?

Well executed but not my style. I couldn’t get past the feeling she was imitating older genres instead of being herself or making something new. Very performative. Great voice and production, just not for me.

Pretty silly. Ambitious with some nice moments but doesn’t totally work. Pretty fun rock/family tree on the wiki. Probably 2 but going 3 because they were trying something and for the few highlights.

I don’t know, man. Sounds cool, feel like without knowing French I really can’t experience this. This dude is soooo French.

I love The Clash, particularly Joe Strummer. In my mind there are two versions of this band - the raw punk version and the refined version that went on to make London Calling. I suppose there is a third version that would make some straight up pop songs, that I enjoy too. The London Calling version really didn't seem to care what genre they were put in, just made the best possible album with the various rock, punk and reggae influences they most enjoyed. This early album has some hints of what they would later become but overall it's pretty straight forward, pretty great, punk. Some stuff on here reminds me of the Sex Pistols (White Riot), a version of The Clash that I think really only shows up here. Very happy to have this album, but my preference is the LC version.

Held up better than I would have guessed. Innovative. Main takeaway is that they should have pulled the samples etc from Walk This Way masters and not re-recorded. New riff sounds like shit compared to original. Also, realizing Aerosmith did this 10 years after Toys in the Attic is kinda sad. Feels like a desperate move from an aging rock band, but it worked out.

These guys remind me of my 3 and 5 year old daughters. When things aren’t going their way they always turn to anger, which is a very freeing feeling. Letting go of any kind of responsibility for a situation and blaming the world instead. Slipknot didn’t come to their senses though, as my children often do. Instead they put on masks and screamed…..a lot.

Curious to know each of these guys commitment to the bit. Who thought the outfits were dumb and who thought they weren’t spooky enough.

This brings me back to a pivotal moment in my life, around 2000. 10 years old and finding my musical footing. Exploring classic rock but also hiding in a crawl space in the basement listening to Insane Clown Posse. My friend showed me the new Disturbed album, The Sickness, which has a grotesque looking creature on the cover. Another had just showed me an AC/DC album. I chose AC/DC, the light, opting to not be disturbed. I haven’t looked back!

As for the music, I didn’t hate it. Cannot do a full album, but about 3 songs in was sort of impressed.

Always heard her name and never knew what she was about. Played a big role in the Dylan movie and then watched the Rolling Thunder Revue and she’s in that too. Seems like a pretty cool lady. Good to do a full listen of an album. As for this album, all these songs are beautiful, but pretty darn similar. I think I’ll add Silver Dagger and keep a lookout for more Baez.

Nick Drake 2.0

I respect this, more so than the previous album, but it’s still not for me. Still listening to Black Sabbath. I concur that if I get divorced I’ll be crying playing this on repeat. One point for the 90’s. Deserves better but m hiding this is the 3’s.

Starts at stops on track 1 are sweet. Couple good moments but overall the dark cloud sound of the 90's makes me sick. It seems we were very lost as a society in the 90's. Both forcing various technical effects into music and expressing a general sense of discontentment. Probably popular opinion but worst decade for music IMO.

Damn close to a 1. I couldn’t really get through, skimmed the second half, and I think that should be a consideration. If I can’t listen to it then how could it be worse? I liked the vocals on “Lately”.

FUCK YEA! How did I miss this album? I think I had only ever listened to the first 3, but this might be the best one.

Sounds shitty, but after Ozzy died I started the day saying Black Sabbath might be a bit overrated. I've always been a fan but where he/they sit in Rock lore seemed a bit overblown. After listening to this I take it back. Black Sabbath fucking rocks.

At work I've been dealing with the most corporate political bullshit for a year, went to the gym and put this on and it was the PERFECT antidote. Snowblind instantly made me want to smash my laptop and rob a convenience store.

The off speed stuff on here is perfectly placed too. What a fucking album! RIP Ozzy!

Let’s hear it for Frankieeeee 😬

That was something I won’t forget! I really enjoyed the sound throughout and placed that first riff (Born Free - MIA). Of course enjoyed the bizzaro vibe. Between a 3 and 4 and going conservative. Will be revisiting this.

It does make later records sort of less impressive. People have been going pretty strange places for a while now.

The first song is sick, definitely got my attention. Love everything about it. It ties the energy and realness of soul, maybe Afro soul?, to modern highly produced music. Plus it’s upbeat and catchy, interesting cadence, good hook etc. great song.

As I went through the rest I realized this guy sang the opening song for Big Little Lies and this very specific brand of soul felt a little too manufactured. I’ve Been Dazed sounds like a progression you’d teach a 12 year old, and the dressing all over it irritated me more than it masked anything. Piano Joint is basically a Marvin Gaye rip off, I feel like they legit pulled Inner City Blues.

Overall it’s pristine and beautiful sounding but that’s not why I like soul music. May be putting Michael in a box he doesn’t want to be in. But this Leon Bridges clean soul singing isn’t for me.

Spent some time thinking about Aretha this week. My kids love the movie Sing and they do “Say a little prayer” and their version is soulless, so listened to Aretha to see what she did differently. She has insane rhythm and dynamics, it reminds me of Hendrix guitar playing. So locked in and in control, he can make a major scale sound other worldly, and so can Aretha. Not trying to hold this guy to that standard, but what makes music engaging has a lot more to it than hitting the notes.

Impressed by MK, will be on the lookout for more of his stuff, but other than Track 1 won’t come back to this one.

This one felt pretty mailed in. Either he wrote this in a couple weeks or the well ran dry. I do enjoy the arrangements more so than on their earlier records. As I've said, I felt they leaned on the novelty of not having a bass or other instruments a bit. On the first few tracks having the piano and bass is additive. He's got a pretty good guitar sound on a lot of this.

Cool look back, I remember TLC being huge. I think they got Wally Pipp’d by Destinys Child. Found this pretty boring though, mostly the generic production and repetition of the beats.

Thats enough of Kate Bush for today. Again, felt it started strong and fell off. I'd like to hear minimalist version of her stuff. Mhhhhhhmmmmm yesssss.

Starts strong and fades on the second half. Kate Bush is so unique it makes for a pretty challenging listen. No points of reference, which is good but again, challenging. Might be a fan of her but maybe not an active listener. About to fire up "The Sensual World".