Reviews by stevey_

this is about as close to punk as post-punk gets. If you added these songs to a ‘classic’ punk playlist, I don’t think anyone except the most pedantic nerd would even blink an eye.

It sounds like an Elvis Costello record. If you’re into that, you’ll probably love it. Even the one about gooning or the two hitlers one.

This record has been held up as a classic for forever, but I don't think I've ever listened all the way through before. I'll talk about the Clapton of it all later and try to focus on the album as a whole first. Overall, I think I expected them to do more here - more psychedelia, more showmanship, just more. This is a very tight record, and I appreciate that restraint. Judging this against its peers, it's solidly one of the better blues & psych-rock albums of the era but I'm not sure it earns all the praise it gets. Had they not all gone on to have notable post-Cream careers, the band might not have carried so much mystique through the years.

Alright, the Clapton of it all... There are hundreds (thousands?) of guitar players who sound like Clapton...NOW. But that's because he stood out so much in his prime. As a young guitar player, I revered Clapton on the top tier of players - right up there with Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. Though that might have been based more on reputation than actual knowledge of his catalog. It feels like the recordings only tell part of the story and his legend was really born on stage. In any case, I think this is Clapton's peak era - pre self-indulgence, pre tragic fatherhood, pre pandemic hot takes. Just a muppet-looking English dude shredding some blues guitar. Nobody has ever loved me the way English dudes in the 60s loved 'borrowing' African American music of the 30s-50s.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one… it was as underwhelming as I feared it would be. Maybe I shouldn’t have come in with so much pessimism, but I am who I am. It’s like a very boring version of Radiohead, but I guess that recipe made Coldplay superstars.

I swear I previously reviewed the first Coldplay album, but I guess this is my first one. Apparently I've only mentioned my feeling about Coldplay in Radiohead & Muse reviews so far.

Brian Eno is a real pistol. This record starts off with disco, then turns into a banger of a Talking Heads song by the end of side 1. What a disservice that his music isn't talked about more in mainstream discourse.

This is one of those rare joyful mornings where I know absolutely nothing about what I’m pressing play on except that it came out in 1993; one of the most monumental years in my music lifetime. Still, the fact that I’ve never heard (of) this record might be some ‘Chekhov’s obscurity’ type of foreshadowing.

And sure enough, “Fantastic Disaster” (track 4) takes a turn into some strange territory. But the next track, “Happily Divided” pulls us firmly back into the ‘grunge band owns acoustic guitars’ wheelhouse of 1993; I wish it had any kind of hook I could latch onto. Actually, now that I think about it, I could say that about every track so far. It’s wild to think of bands like Nirvana as pop or mainstream, but compared to this, they did manage to pump out a bunch of hooky, chartable songs. Part of me appreciates that avant-punk aspect of this Sebadoh record, but part of me is disappointed to not uncover a hidden gem here. I think the real strength of this album may be its contrast to everything else happening in the early 90s. There are SO MANY moments here where you could be listening to a Nirvana record, but a moment later it's very clear you are not. Much like my feelings about Pixies and Fugazi, I want to like this more than I do. And I can't say I even like it as much as offerings from either of those bands.

"Soul And Fire"
"Happily Divided"
"Homemade"

Several months ago this list was serving me a steady diet of funk records and I was kinda into it. At the time, I was also getting a lot of early new wave records (like Bowie ‘plastic soul’ stuff, and Talking Heads, etc.) so that primer on funk really helped me appreciate its influence on those later records. Now, after a bit of a break, I’m starting to get disco records and I'm surprisingly unenthusiastic about it.

By 1978, Disco was a fully established genre - it had even died already if you believe some of the American punditry. I had to double check that I hadn’t already been given this record. I previously listened to 1979’s Risqué, which sounds very similar to this. I think I prefer “Good Times” to “Le Freak”, but otherwise this record feels more my tempo. Once you're past the first two tracks, this record contains a lot of more subdued groove tracks that feel closer to funk than a full-on disco assault. the 5 star system doesn't give me the flexibility for very nuanced rating, so this will get the same rating as Risqué, but know I'd give it another 1/2 star if I could.

“Tiny Dancer” and “Levon” are all-timers, but the most interesting track on this record to me was “All The Nasties”. To modern ears, it certainly sounds like a veiled song about coming out, but I could see how a 1971 crowd may not pick up on that. I know that EJ wouldn’t actually come out until 1976, and even then he came out first as bisexual, so it must not have caused too much of a stir at the time.
Beyond that, this record feels very much like Elton doing peak Elton things. If that’s your thing, I’m sure you already know this record well. I appreciate Mr. John’s contributions to rock & roll, but I’ve never fully connected with his music. I wouldn’t complain if you put one of his records on, but I don’t picture myself ever reaching for one myself.

I can draw a straight (and fairly short) line from this to the Orgy, Powerman5000, and Deadsy records of my adolescence. That should compel me towards affection for this record, but I’m not sure it’s there. Sure, “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy The Silence” are certified bangers, but I’m not hearing much that sucks me in beyond those two. Like, it’s all fine but I just don’t see myself listening to this much/ever. I’ll note that I struggle to even listen back to the other bands I listed above. Maybe I’m finally out of my goth phase.

No notes. What a beautiful record.

PJ Harvey wasn’t on my radar at all before starting this project and has been one of my biggest revelations. Admittedly, this isn’t my favorite Polly Jean album - I think I'll always be most fond of her early records - but this is in the top half of the discography, for sure. With most artists I insist on not comparing records to their later work, but for PJ my comparison will always be against the early records I love so much. Had I come to this record first, I might put it on a higher pedestal.

This album keeps (returns to?) the 'rough around the edges' aesthetic I love so much from the first records, but adds a complementary bit of maturity and complexity. With that combination, it makes sense that this would be her most commercially successful release (at least to this point). Everyone's allowed to grow and this is PJ doing that in a way that feels natural. She's still that same dark, lovelorn, soul but now with better (cleaner) production and more complex arrangements. If you believe this is Polly's masterpiece, I will agree with you. It certainly feels like the inflection point of her career where you can easily pivot to into the darker and bluesy-er early records, or just as easily into the even more complex pop-adjacent compositions of the later albums. If you don't like this record, you may not like any PJ Harvey records.

An unfortunate album cover that I’ll try to ignore. I came into this with no real expectations; I only know them from “Pepper” and the one song they had on the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America soundtrack. I was ready for some level of weird rock & roll… but not quite ready for this level of weird rock & roll. I enjoyed my listen, but stopped at only one for fear of ruining it.

Is it parody? Is it drugs? Are they Zappa fans who just don’t have the talent to make Zappa-level music? I can't answer these questions, but I’ll keep trying.

The final 'missing link' between Glam Rock and Punk Rock? Maybe the secret ingredient was the little bit of California surf thrown in the mix? Weird add for a New York band, but I'm not going to complain. You can hear influence from KISS, The Stooges, and David Bowie. You can also hear so many punk bands that would come after this - The Ramones will also record a version of "California Sun", if you want to make direct comparisons. Early band photos, and jacket of their second record, Manifest Destiny, confirm their existence at the transition between Glam Rock showmanship and the rough and tumble working-class aesthetics that will later dominate Punk Rock.

A few of these songs haven't aged well, and Dick Manitoba may live up to his name, but it's impossible to ignore how pivotal this album/band are in the timeline of rock & roll. A wildly informative listen.

Personal notables:
"The Next Big Thing"
"I Got You Babe"
"California Sun"
"(I Live For) Cars and Girls"

I know I haven't been very kind to R.E.M. so far on this list, and I do feel bad that I'm not able to connect with them like I "should" (because on paper, I should like them). This album is probably the best of the three(?) I've listened to for this project so far. I still don't think I'm all the way there, but I feel like there's a world where I own/play this record on occasion. Certainly not high praise but I'm trying, OK?

Frequently cited as the best Nirvana album, In Utero sounds like Nirvana settling into themselves. There are plenty of moments where they still sound like those sloppy, angsty, kids who upended the record industry a few years earlier, but then you get tracks like "Heart-Shaped Box", "Dumb", and "All Apologies" that demonstrate their ability to make more mature music. Maybe not a masterpiece, but it's the closest we'll get from Kurt, Christ, and Dave. Nirvana ending here feels like if The Beatles ended after Rubber Soul.

Fun fact: Steve Albini had just finished recording PJ Harvey's fantastic second album, Rid Of Me, at Pachyderm Studio right before Nirvana showed up in Cannon Falls, MN to record this record. What a winter!

Just as I emerge from a recent Beatles rabbithole, this list goes and tries to pull me back in. Only my second Fab Four record from the list, and I’m glad we’re staying toward the beginning of the discography. I’m actually about half way through watching the Beatles 64 documentary right now, so this feels well timed.

Is this as good as “the later stuff”, of course not. At least not good on the same way. This is album 3 of 13 (13! in 7 years) an it’s the first one they made after starting to get famous. It’s the first 100% Lennon/McCartney album without covers or standards or anything… and I won’t even talk about the movie stuff. My point is: even if it still kinda sounds like average 60s pop music, this album represents a lot of big steps on the Beatles journey. Before you can swim you have to tread water, and this record is the Beatles proving they can do that all on their own.

It still blows my mind that in just a years time we’ll get Rubber Soul and everything after that is the stuff that the “later album” nerds always talk about. Yes, I’ll probably give a few of those records 5 stars, but we aren there yet. I’ve said before that it’s not fair to judge albums based on later albums, so I’ll rate this one in its own. I think it holds up against any other mid-60s records on this list and deserves to be required listening.

Every now and then (ok, probably twice in my life) I’ll get into a ATCQ mood and queue up all their records. They were a great group and I have nothing bad to say about them. I also can’t say I’ve ever considered myself a fan. Maybe they were just a little too far before my time, or not the right kind of cool enough to impress me when I was young. Who knows. I should listen to them more.

I didn't know this was "the other two" Talking Heads. Knowing that makes me want to like this more than I actually do. I thought it was fine, it certainly has its moments, but it's not quite... anything. It's not quite punk enough, not quite new wave enough, not quite my thing. "Genius Of Love" is a keeper but I'm not sure I need the whole album.

The name DJ Shadow probably suggests this is going to be much more hip-hop than it ends up being; in fact, I'd put this closer to the jazz category than anything else. I enjoyed this, and I love so much music that this definitely influenced - groups like Dirty Art Club or The Jazzual Suspects are a few of my regular listens. That said, I don't have any specific nostalgia for this record that would compel a 5 star rating here. I'd buy a vinyl copy if I came across it in a dusty bin, but wouldn't go out of my way.

I made it as far as the song "Wrong" before I thought "this sounds like whatever group made that 'and I miss you like the deserts miss the rain' song" …and I was right - it’s called "Missing", from 1994's Amplified Heart. That song was pounded into my brain by some tv commercial for a compilation album that I had to sit through almost constantly at one point in the 90s. The 90s loved trying to sell you something with a 1-800 number and a TV commercial.

Anyway, this whole album is not all that different from that song; maybe less interesting. For a group called Everything But The Girl, they seem pretty hyper focused on putting the girl front and center and not doing ANYthing else even remotely interesting that might risk distracting you from her. I considered abandoning it 1/2 way through, but stuck it out til the last song just so I could say I won. I've spent this whole review talking about a song that's not even on the record, so maybe I’ll save my stars for whenever I probably have to listen to that album.