Reviews by sterry2289

Another dramatic shift, this time from Van Halen and thoughtless rock to this poetry album. Again making me feel I need to be more appreciative of what I’m listening to that day.

I’ve had Suzanne on the “liked” playlist for a while, and that song is very nice sounding and evokes some interesting thoughts. That said, the full album listen made me feel like I was completely ill-equipped to appreciate this. I’m missing two major prerequisites - I’ve never read the Bible/didn’t go to church and I don’t fundamentally understand poetry. Is good poetry like a puzzle with no clear answer? Highlight was Master Song - the accents from the horns and violin were very cool. Low rating but it’s not you, Leonard, it’s me.

When we had 1984 I started contemplating my thoughts on Van Halen, which was maybe I’ve never liked Van Halen. After this all I know is i don’t like listening to them. Also wondering if EVH actually is a good guitar player. He can do a lot but to my ears it sounds awful. I think “I’m the One” was where that clicked. They have a decent harmony in the chorus and after each line he plays insane fills that add nothing to the song. Give me some slow yet tasteful JJ Cale (or a hundred other guitarists) over this garble. Jamie’s Cryin is the best version of this band. Adding a star for that song.

I really enjoyed the first 3 songs. Felt like it fell off a cliff after that. Read Jack White played bass on a track.

Loved this. What a surprise. Highlights were Night Train and Arc of a Diver. Hope we get more Winwood and Winwood projects.

Only recently started listening to Dire Straits. A friend shared a video of a performance from 1979 and it’s pretty sick. Simple arrangements with Mark Knopfler grooving/shredding and stealing the show. This album feels over produced to me and a little disjointed. Money for Nothing is a great song, 10/10 and I liked the first few tracks a lot. Feels like karma, bashing the White Stripes for being too bare bones, immediately getting hit with this.

I'll give it up to them for Fell in Love With a Girl and We're Going to Be Friends. Great songs. That said, I don't like The White Stripes. Sad!

I pondered why I'm hating for a while this weekend. I think we got off on the wrong foot (but my critiques are also still valid). When I was deep into classic rock in my pre-teens they blew up and I felt it was a sub-par rip off of my favorite bands. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground sounded like a worse version of Dear Mr. Fantasy to me.

My main issue is the decisions they made to stand out were just that, and not artistic decisions to create better music. Not having a bass guitar makes this record worse. I hear a lot of music that is derivative of classic rock songs and some power chord/riff hacks. I also enjoy those songs MORE than the truly original ones (The Union Forever). The red and white theme is also off putting. I want to like this band and compared to their contemporaries, they are objectively good. I'll try to keep an open mind.

Somewhere I heard you are either a Sly and The Family Stone fan or an Earth Wind and Fire fan, and I fall in the Sly camp. There were many moments in here I enjoyed. Obviously these guys are masters I appreciate the prog/jazz stuff. That said, with EW&F I always feel like I'm not quite getting it. This listen I kept thinking about that term "Plastic Soul" that worked so well for Bowie but for some reason here feels like a kitchy tourist trap or something. I reserve the right to become a huge Earth, Wind and Fire guy at some point, but that day is not today.

To date this might be the most "jam band" album we've heard, and its one guy playing piano and not singing (a few moans here and there). As a jam band sympathizer, I enjoyed this. Some of my favorite moments listening to or playing music are the unexpected ones, where you hear or play a melody/rhythm that makes you feel like you've just seen a puzzle come together. There are downsides to endless "jams" of course, which this album has some of. Cool story too - drove all night to West Germany to play a concert an 18 y/o arranged, but no piano available so had to tune up the shitty rehearsal piano and make the most out of the lower registers. Pretty crafty. The range of genres covered is also pretty sick. I think given the circumstances he deserves a 5, but it is limited (to one guy playing paino) so I'll go 4.

This could have been a 4 or 5 album but this mix is terrible. I thought my speakers were broken at first. WIll have to do more digging on Dino Jr. because I liked what I heard, it just sounded like i had ear muffs on or something.

I dont knowwwwwwww. I'm impressed but not blown away. Cool to blend these genres and make something main stream. Great sound, great vocals etc. I think i listened to this 4 times and only a couple songs really stand out (Space Invaders and Brass in Pocket). At times it feels very faceless. I'm sure there are strong arguments for 4+, which I respect. 3 for me.

This is a classic. Watermelon Man blew my mind when i first heard it and remains one of my favorites. Chameleon is closely behind. Very approachable Jazz and for someone who was/is a Jazz novice that loves funk I really appreciated this. This time through I did find aspects of it boring, but I think thats because I'm maybe less of a jazz novice now? Or maybe I've just heard it too many times. Either way, classic album 5 stars.

Spoiler: Led Zeppelin 1-4, Houses of the Holy and PG are all 5/5 for me. This is the second LZ album we’ve had and this one falls a little short of Physical Graffiti. Reading this was received with some hesitation from critics because they started branching away from strictly hard rock, which hadn’t occurred to me having consumed all this music in no particular order. I think as a result of adding the new genres this one in particular did feel a little disjointed at times. Led Zeppelin rules.

This is throwing shit against the wall and nothing sticking. At least half this band was disgusted by what they were playing. But that's the cost of trying to do something new - it might be ground breaking but likely it's going to sound terrible. (I was too easy on Dylan and I'm taking it out on Pere Ubu)

Alternate title could be "I don't even want to be about anymore". These aging rockers reflecting on the meaning of life and death is a real drag! Second listen through it was more enjoyable and his lyrics are interesting as always. The Nick Cave/creepy swamp blues sound on a couple tracks isn't for me. Not sure how to feel about the mix - it sounds bad but it works for the overall depressing vibe. It was thought provoking, but getting someone to comtemplate how fleeting life can be feels like low hanging fruit. Dylan was this down in '97.... I wonder what the last 30 years have been like.

Fats was printing money! "The Associated Press estimates that during his career, Domino "sold more than 110 million records"." I had no idea he was this popular or really his significance to rock music.

I enjoyed this and will come back to it on occasion. Predictably it sounds rudimentary 60 years later, which would be my only critique. I think it deserves a 4 but it’ll be a 3 for me.

I bet if you analyzed this album, it’s flawless, but it’s just not hitting the way other SW albums do. Depending on the day I could get really into this or truly not enjoy it. Glad to have listened to it (several times) but won’t be in the regular rotation…. I don’t think? It’s a 3 or 4 but as I’m writing this is a 3. Feel like I’ll regret this.

Solidly a 3 for me. Some moments where it felt like they were teasing taking it to another level. A definite willingness to stretch boundaries. Will come back for Immortal Story.

Some good stuff but feels like the beta version of Beastie Boys. Generally a fan but also wonder if they’re better in small doses. Maybe not suited for the full listen through.

Between this, Sticky Fingers and Exile the Stones really hit their stride. As good as it gets.

I don't know the details of any kind of rivalry or faux rivalary but the naming feels like little brother to me. If they really did feel like they were competing with the Beatles I think they make it clear during this stretch of albums they were something completely different and thank god they leaned into blues/rock and away from whatever psychedlic shit they were trying.

I think I prefer the live versions on Love in Vain and Live With Me from Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, but nice to hear the studio versions.

I like Johnny Cash! He does come off as a bit of a phony, but so do a lot of people. He found a lane and committed to it. Great voice/charisma/delivery. It also has me pondering the ethics of this. On the one hand he's humanizing these people, which is good... I think? What did they do? How did their victims feel about all this banter? This prison sucks LOLZ... Would Doggystyle be better if it was recorded in a prison? Would we say Snoop is more or less phony?

Wanted Man was by far my favorite track and of course it was written by Bob Dylan...