Reviews by sterry2289

Voice of an angel. One of my go-to’s. Love everything about it.

Don’t believe the hype! Lolz

One star for the activism, but I do not enjoy listening to this. The mixing in the live concert intros was cool.

Big BB fan but this song didn’t do it for me. Not sure about the full catalog but in this one they definitely leaned on the harmonies more than I would like. It sounded like a cappella group with some backing bands. It was interesting to hear which areas Wilson would bring to Pet Sounds, particularly the horns and some of the Spector Ronnettes stuff. That said, I’ll never be mad with this on.

Really dumb but kinda loved it. Cant really place it but the vocals remind me of very contemporary music. I think Kurt Vile? Somewhere between a 3 and 4. Going to be conservative but I think these guys may grow on me.

Not bad! I think his song writing is what’s holding him back. Also, no ones asking (me) but my moneys on Morrisey being gay.

Wow that ended with some really dumb shit. Generally like this STYLE of the RHCP better than Californiacation, but 75 min of this is too much.

Enough!!! I’m sick of this guys shit.

3/5 for this album but 4/5 for Kate Bush and her overall weird vibe. Great moments here but a little off the rails. May grow on me over time.

I like the grooves of GSH songs (the bottle) but he’s a poet turned musician, so I think he can sometimes fall short as well.

Feel like I could analyze this one for a week, which is a credit to the album. When you throw music on at the house, this isn’t what you’re playing, but it’s perfect for this exercise.

I’ve thought a lot about this album. When this came out a friend played Bound 2 for me and I just thought it was Kanye being intentionally provocative and it wasn’t “real” music. My friend’s response was that I was talking about it, which I think was my point. Over time though that song specifically has really stood out as a great song on its own. In the context of the entire album it’s even better.

I don’t know what KW is doing these days and I don’t support etc etc but the dude is a genius. I think he might be our Bowie? A mentally ill Bowie.

One of the cooler music moments I’ve heard is on the first track. You’re immediately on your heels with that dissonant aggressive beat, and it cuts to a “sample” (which I’ve learned was recreated because they couldn’t get the rights) that sounds like the best thing you’ve ever heard “he’ll give us what we need, it may not be what we want” How it sounds sonically is an accomplishment, not sure I’ve ever heard that kind of contrast before, but him saying “yea I know this is fucking insane, it’s not the hit you want but it’s what you need to hear” is pretty fucking sick. He can make beautiful music if he wants but that’s not what we “need”. Not sure that we “need” it but I greatly prefer to be challenged that to hear recycled shit we’ve heard a million times.

I’ll continue thinking about Yeezus for a while. More music that pushes boundaries please.

If this only had Bohemian Rhapsody on it I’d still go 5/5. That song is so good. Trying not to always be hyperbolic but it might be the best song ever. The rest is cool, but not something I’ll regularly go back to. That drop tho in BH…. Sheesh

This was a staple in my house growing up, or maybe it just stands out compared to the others. This one, Tears for Fears, lotta REM. For that reason I have a soft spot for it. I also fucking love Doo Wop That Thing. I think its one of the best songs ever. Listening to the rest of the album though, the other songs feel a little flat and one dimensional. LH always delivers, meaning her vocal performances, but the dynamics on those other songs just dont touch the energy from That Thing. Just learned about the connection to the Marley family and now it makes a lot more sense. The horns in That Thing are sensational.

I thought I wanted more original instrumentation in rap records, but it occured to me listening to this that samples can add a lot of depth to a song and a termendous amount of variety. You can't really replicate blending the recordings from 50 years of pop music, the instruments they used, the recording equipment etc. Here is works well, but it also feels a little too clean and boring at times.

Some cool stuff here, but not for me. Favorite track was Crumble and it had no vocals, so maybe its the lead singer i didn't enjoy. Original sound.

Ah ha. The lads are back with a vengeance. Big bad Oasis. Trying to dunk on me and my takes. Well don’t worry….I’m not gonna doooooooo what everyone thinks I’m gonna doooooo. I’m not gonna freak out man!

As you can plainly see - I have been defeated. Beat into submission by the almighty list, this Brit pop simp.

Saying Oasis was the most overrated band ever may have been a bad take, but it wasn’t my first bad take and it won’t be the last. It also wasn’t my worst. I thought The Hives were the world’s next great band. I thought Dogpile.com was superior to Google. I thought Belichick was more valuable than Brady etc etc

This album is significantly better than “Definitely Maybe”. Much more confident and original. Better instrumentation and varied arrangements. Not leaning on the tropes and British Invasion nostalgia I slammed them for in the debut. It’s still not something I would voluntarily listen to, but I may be ready to hang up my animosity towards Oasis. They aren’t hacks… my b.

I don’t know, man. Not offensive. Good variety and a couple nice grooves.

In my last review I mentioned initially skipping over The Band’s solo songs on The Last Waltz (if you haven’t seen it run to a TV now) Over time that dynamic shifted and I became a massive fan of The Band. I think I prefer Music From Big Pink but this isn’t far behind. The genre “Americana” is usually pretty vague, but in this case it’s the perfect descriptor. A collection of American music genres and stories, with a unique sound and astonishing song writing. Can’t go wrong with these guys.

Wasn't that a man!? Fitting to have this followed by The Band. I rewatched The Last Waltz on repeat as a kid and it started by (literally) fast forwarding over most of the The Band songs and finding the guest performances. Muddy Waters 'Manish Boy' was one of those. In that performance they have Paul Butterfield playing one continuous droning note on the harmonica (which is fucking sick). The song was originally written and recorded in 1955 but this version is the lasting one. Its burned into my mind in the downfall sequence of Goodfellas. I've heard a lot of "this was the first rap song" but IMO this is it. Closing thought on this song - it is fucking GREAT.

That said - the rest of the album did not do it for me. Blues really is just too limiting compared to other genres and to make it work everything else has to be perfect. In this case it fell short. Some of the guitars i thought were pretty weak. Either way, Muddy Waters was more man than I'll ever be and props to him for that.

Brit Pops final boss is here. I’m a hater. I’ve been hating on Oasis my whole life and now I’m committed to the belief they are one of, if not the most, overrated band in history.

Here’s my case:
The main reason people like them is because they conjure nostalgia for British Invasion music, primarily and unapologetically The Beatles. A band being heavily influenced by a genre or band is fine if the output is strong, but IMO it’s not. The over the top British accents is also irritating, but wouldn’t be so if they didn’t insist on holding those notes “rock and roll stahhhhhhhhhhhhhh” or “maybaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy”

The overall bullshit rocker attitude doesn’t work for me either. You’re a Beatles wanna be hack! Get your own sunglass/haircut combo.

Being a hack is fine. When I was 16 I aspired to be a rock and roll hack. I just don’t think they deserve to be considered “great”.

Something nice I’ll say is they are clearly the best brit pop band…

I really hated this. Whiny and dull. A terrible combination.

I just love Q-Tip. I think for the Tribe review someone here said you could listen to Q-Tip read a phonebook and I co-sign that. I've had "Won't Trade" and "Move" on the rotation for a while and the rest of these aren't as good but not offensive at all.

For the X time in a row I'm going 4 for a rap album. The floor is high and the ceiling is low for classic rap.