Reviews by stevey_

A lot of reviews mentioned that Spotify doesn’t have the correct tracks for this album, so I went to YouTube and I think I found it(?). If so, it seems like an enjoyable set but difficult for me to get into through all the YouTube ads.

I’ve never heard of this band, but I’ve heard “Alright” in plenty of tv/movie scenes. I listened to this one twice and still don’t know how I feel about it. For the most part, I enjoyed this but don’t see myself revisiting the album or any of their others.

After Boards of Canada, I was not extremely excited to get into another early electronic album. This one, however, is a little more my speed. I had friends who made electronic music in the early 00s, and this feels remarkably similar to what they were making even a decade later. I guess that's triggering a sense of nostalgia in me, even though I've never listened to this particular album nor do any raving in the 90s.

I don't understand why this is on the list. I don't say that to be mean, but I can't hear anything here that feels different or more influential than other singer-songwriter albums of this time, or decades before. Maybe the devil is in the details and I am too bored to listen for those details. Rufus Wainwright sings like a sad teenager who only owns Thom Yorke and Chris Martin records.
The album opens with a dirge that really set a tone I couldn't get past. I can't pick out any hits, and there are a lot of songs that feel like they would be that final slow song you'd play to end a concert, but then it keeps going. Makes for a long hour, and probably an even longer concert.

I knew The Doors would come up at some point, so part of me is glad to check one off the list.
I'm not a Jim Morrison fan. If I could somehow listen to this album without wincing every time he launched into his signature overly theatric vocals, there’s a possibility I’d enjoy some of these songs. Hell, if they just mixed everything differently to make Jim and the organ less prominent, I might be able to enjoy this more.
I understand how influential The Doors were, but I just can't get past Jim. Maybe that will change with later albums, but I kinda doubt he got less obnoxious as he got more famous. The saving grace is that they influenced a lot of later acts who managed to tweak the recipe and make enjoyable music.
I don't have many specific notes about this album. The hits were the hits. You know them, you have feelings about them. "Twentieth Century Fox" feels like a warm-up for "Light My Fire" - without the tempo difference, they open with essentially the same melody and that's all I could think about. Somewhere during "The End" I started looking for the ffwd button. The 45min runtime for this record felt like it meandered more than it needed to; the opposite of yesterday's Supertramp album.

Soft-core Prog-Rock, but like, not in a bad way? By today's standards, this is classic Yacht Rock(TM), for sure.
I know "Dreamer" was the single, but wikipedia claims that "School" and "Bloody Well Right" are the more enduring hits. It's hard to argue with that as I find Dreamer pretty cloying after about 30seconds. I can’t see School as a hit but as an album opener, you could do far worse. Portions of Bloody Well Right feel like they had direct influence on Pink Floyd's Animals (1977), which surprised me at first. I am much more familiar with the latter, so hearing similar sounds caught me off guard here.
At ~45min, this is a very manageable prog-rock album that never feels like it goes off on a big space voyage for too long despite the slightly ominous album cover or the threatening “will he take a sailboat ride?" in the chorus of “Asylum”. We get harmonicas, saxophones, talkbox guitars, Wurlitzers, all the things I wish we still heard more often. I don't know if I need to revisit this whole album, but I'll spend some more time with Supertramp.

This record is for a much sadder day than today, but I’m trying to connect anyway.
“Stroke It Noel” is the stand out track from my first listen. I’m excluding “Femme Fatale” because it’s a cover and I’m not sure it’s better than the original.
Ultimately, I don’t hate it, but I don’t think I’ll revisit this one many times. I noticed nothing from this album is in Big Star’s most popular songs on Spotify, so I think I’ll see what the other albums are like. Three big stars feels appropriate.

This feels like it should be a live album. I know you can’t create a new band nobody’s ever heard of and release a live album as your debut, but I kinda wish that’s what this was. The whole second half of Layla is a pretty obnoxious thing to record, but I’m sure it went incredibly hard in concert.
Beyond that, writing a whole album about how much you love your best friend’s wife is a crazy thing to do. Especially when you include a song that explicitly says so (see: “Have You Ever Loved A Woman?”). It’s even more crazy that it eventually worked out.
As a (former?) guitar player, Clapton will always have my respect, but ultimately this album spends more time jamming than I need it to.

I'm impressed by how cinematic this album is. Obviously I've heard all the singles (and probably more) over the years, but this is the first time I've sat with the whole thing. And considering the musical landscape of 1993, I can't help but be even more impressed. Certainly compared to Nirvana's In Utero (also 1993), this record is going a completely different direction. Where Nirvana doubled down on their bread&butter grunge sound, The Smashing Pumpkins are leaning into a much more expansive sound. Listening back to Gish (1991), I can hear elements that hint at an enhanced grunge sound, but Siamese Dream moves that sound out of grunge's shadow.
I’m not sure I need to revisit this whole album, but it’s certainly deepens my respect for the band.

I was extremely unexcited when this album came up today. I am, unfortunately, tangentially VERY familiar with this one because I had a sibling who was a huge Britney fan. We all even saw her live in Chicago at one point. I also watched a lot of TRL in ‘99/‘00. All that to say, for someone who was/is not at all into this kind of music, I know way too much of this album already. Nevertheless, here we go…
The beginning of this album (“…Baby One More Time” through “Sometimes”) will not be new to anyone who lived through the Y2K crisis. They were big ol’ pop hits and I don’t have much to say about them. Next up are the real time capsules… “Soda Pop” is so late-90’s it hurts. Why are we skatting here? Didn’t we get enough of this with Mmmbop? Apparently not, much to Shaggy’s delight a few years after this. Next is the equally late-90’s “Born To Make You Happy”, which gives me big yikes in 2025. This is probably still celebrated as a Trad Wife anthem in certain circles, but I want nothing to do with it. Next, I think “From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart” was also a single, or maybe it was just a local favorite in my house. Either way, and that track helps reset things a little bit. But after that, the rest of the album feels remarkably unremarkable. “Email my Heart” is the the possible exception, but only because its premise is too corny to ignore.
I know she didn’t write any of these songs, and was only ~19 when they were recorded, so I won’t fault her too much for the questionable decisions here. This isn’t an album I’ll be revisiting, but it was kinda fun(?) to force myself to give it a full listen all these years later.

Is this the 1962 equivalent of Cowboy Carter or Lil Nas X? Sixty years later, these songs do not sound at all controversial but I'll believe what I've read about how many feathers were ruffled at the time. Conversely, it's also hard to wrap my head around everything I've read about how influential this was in mainstreaming (and influencing) country music.
There were only a few moments in this album where I could hear the country bleeding through in the arrangements, otherwise this played like a pretty standard album of early 60's R&B/Soul/Pop crooning, just based on country songs. I could have done with fewer violins, but I understand that was a thing at this time.
I feel like I appreciate this as much as I appreciated "The Genius of Ray Charles" when I listened to that but I understand that this album is probably more culturally significant and thus more necessary pre-death listening. That makes rating complicated. In any case, I’m glad I held back a little bit on my 'Genius' review so I can say it here: Ray Charles was a visionary. Someone get this guy a Diet Pepsi.

How excited did people get for live albums before YouTube made it easy to get clips of bands playing live? I guess it's fitting that I had to listen to this album on YouTube because Spotify didn't have all the tracks available.
Typically I skip live albums in favor of 'best of' albums (or playlists) with all the studio tracks, but I'm glad I had to give this one a shot. To be clear, I do appreciate live music, but I feel like I have to turn the volume way up on live albums to get a full appreciation for the experience and that's a commitment I'm not usually willing to make. That said, I'm sure there's a pantheon of the greatest live albums of all time and that I should spend more time with that list.
I'm a little dismayed to read about the controversy surrounding this album and how much of it was or wasn't overdubbed. For me, that really blunts how much I 'm able to appreciate this album. This sounds like a really great tour, but is this really what a concert would have sounded like? Without that additional knowledge I think I would have become very bullish on Thin Lizzy after this. I'm still curious to dig into their studio recordings a little more, but will always wonder how much studio magic is involved.

On paper I probably should have been a Muse fan. I can’t really tell you why I’m not, except that something about them just didn't work for me... too fake, maybe? Or too pretentious?

This isn’t their debut album, and it shows. This feels like a band very comfortable weaving together an extremely complex sound, or one with enough label money to hire a really slick producer. Having never heard their earlier albums, I have little doubt I’d enjoy them more than this one and then complain that BH&R was the beginning of their big sellout. Nevertheless, this is a very solid, if soulless, commercial-minded rock’n’roll record with all the cinematic flourishes you need for a big stadium tour (plus countless commercials and TV soundtracks). I can practically hear the pyrotechnics and the flutter of A&R professionals. Muse feels like what would happen if Coldplay took amphetamines instead of opioids. It's music for junior finance bros to do cocaine to.

I love Neil Young because he makes me feel like I could have been professional musician too; if Neil can get paid to sing, maybe anyone can.
This album is full of the kind of misanthropic folk/blues/rock that I would have eaten up during my frequently mentioned Classic Rock Phase(TM). Unfortunately, I never made it past Buffalo Springfield or the popular notion that Neil’s solo catalog was as hit-or-miss as it was diverse. Case in point - a song from his newest album, Talkin to the Trees, was recently suggested as the worst song of the 2025. Ouch. Fortunately, this album feels like it falls on the opposite end of the spectrum.
First listen standouts for me include “Revolution Blues” and “On The Beach”. The former feels ripe for a good cover, and the latter has a groove I could swim in for much longer than it’s 7min runtime (which feels absolutely wild to say about a song that long). I’ll also give an honorable mention to “Walk On”, but it has an aggressively Niel Young vocal performance that could turn away casual listeners right away. But here again, the track feels ripe for a good cover.
I was excited that this could be my first no skip album of the project, but “Ambulance Blues” blew the no hitter in the ninth inning. And if we’re skipping one, then I might consider skipping “See The Sky About To Rain” as well, if only because it’s keeping me from all the tracks I like in the heart of the album. Maybe we axe Ambulance Blues and move this one towards the end for a more bulletproof album?
Overall, this was a fun discovery, and a nice way to start my Sunday morning. I can see myself revisiting this album, and I look forward to more Neil Young in this project (at least Harvest, I assume).

When this album finished, the first song Spotify played was Led Zeppelin's “The Ocean” (Houses of the Holy, 1973). It’s a little wild think about this album and that one being only 1 year apart. Where Zeppelin still feels very much like proto-hard rock, Bad Company feels like a more polished next step in the progression of rock’n’roll. Strange/interesting that BC was the first act signed to LZ’s record label. But when I step back, Bad Company sounds more like a descendant of Deep Purple, who were doing a version of this sound since the late 60’s (and who Paul Rodgers almost fronted before starting BC).
For their part, Bad Company did craft a monster rock’n’roll album here. 50 years later, almost all of these songs feel familiar (“The Way I Choose” & “Seagull” being the exceptions), which says a lot. A very easy listen for me, even if I hate to admit enjoying Dad Rock. Maybe I should have taken Bad Company more seriously in my classic rock phase.

My primary exposure to The Kinks is their “Kinks” album, so this was not what I expected.
The album opens like a tribute to (copy of?) Sgt. Pepper, so listeners in 1968 may have been forgiven for quickly passing summary judgement on this one. If I didn’t know I was listening to a Kinks album (and have a reasonable grasp of the Beatles catalog), it would be easy to mistake “Picture Book” as a lesser known Beatles song.
Fortunately, “Johnny Thunder” starts to turn a corner, and by “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains” they are finally in their own lane. Which is to say, at least here, somewhere between The Beatles and The Who.
For my part, I guess I wish there were a little less harpsichord and a few more rock’n’roll tracks like “Wicked Annebella”, or blues-rock tracks like “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains”.

My entry point to electronic music was Daft Punk’s Discovery in 2002. This is a far cry from that.
I’m hard pressed to point to any moment of this album that caught my attention, so I’d put this firmly into the “background music” category… The grandfather of the ‘Chill Electronic Study Music’ Playlist, perhaps.

Joan has a lovely voice and it's easy to see how this album influenced decades of folk artists and singer-songwriters that came after her. There's too many bible-centric songs for me, and even if I set those aside, I struggle to connect with anything. Standouts for me: "House of the Rising Sun", "El Preso Numero Nueve", and "Girl of Constant Sorrow"(I know this was added later).
I could see Joan having a captivating live presence. Maybe not "captivating" in the sense that she holds 100% of your attention, but her vocal modulation makes it difficult to ignore her for very long before she requires your attention again. I wish this quality was moderated a little bit for the recording. The range of volumes here makes this a difficult pre-coffee listen. Between that and the three different typefaces on the album cover, I'm really struggling this morning.

I can't tell you if Woody Guthrie would have liked this, but I’ll tell you I did not. I appreciate the project at hand, but don’t love the execution. I think this may have worked better if every track was a full collaboration, instead of sending two musicians off to each work on 1/2 an album.
Some tracks are better than others, but I'm hard pressed to pick a standout. If anything, "Birds and Ships" (Track 4, featuring Natalie Merchant) felt like the low point. There is no connective tissue in how the first side of this album is laid out and it feels like they're throwing everything at the wall to see if something would stick. "Hoodoo Voodoo" continues the disparate trend and it's not until "She Came Along to Me" that they start cycling through approaches again and things feel more familiar. They never bring in another guest vocalist though, so Natalie holds the honor of being the only cameo on the whole album. The only track I noticed in the back half was "Eisler On The Go", where the haunting vocal performance forced me out of my malaise for a few minutes. Sadly, it goes straight into the upbeat "Hesitating Beauty" and quickly forgets the mood it just created (again).
The album finally closes with "The Unwelcome Guest" which certainly lives up to its name. The harmonies (I use the word loosely) will encourage you to leave as soon as possible and make sure you think twice about coming back.
I guess someone liked this enough to bring everyone back to do it two more times. I’ll never know if those sessions went better.

First off, I'm blown away by the album art (pun intended). If there was a more punk rock album cover put out in 1958, please send it to me. This is worth owning on vinyl just to have the sleeve.
I love big band music, but I have spent no meaningful time digging into specific albums. This was a pretty easy listen for me, and a good way to start an overcast/drizzly Monday. It's certainly an "in your face" version of this kind of music, so you better be ready to go with that energy.
"The Kid From Red Bank" punches you in the gut to start the album, so I appreciate that it's followed by "Duet" and "After Supper" which help you catch your breath and get into the Swing of things (pun clearly intended). Once you're back on your feet, "Flight of the Foo Birds" starts swinging again and doesn't stop until "Midnite Blue". Finally, you get a break again. Ok, it's only been 13 minutes, but in this weird fight analogy I've apparently committed to, that's a long time! This notable change of pace made "Midnite Blue" stand out to me on first listen, more than either of the earlier slow songs. From here "Splanky" speeds things up again, but it knows you're tired and your feet are moving slower than they did in the earlier rounds. "Fantail" follows a little quicker, just to see if you have one last spar in you, and "Lil Darlin'" sees you slowly shuffle back to your corner to await the decision.
Does any of this make sense? Of course not. I should have written this like a dance card, not a fight card, because that's a much more normal way to analyze the pacing of an album. Beyond that, why is the first track compared to one punch, some tracks are full rounds, and some are something in between? Great question. Maybe 7 people will ever read this far anyway, so I don't feel particularly compelled to fix it at this point.
Overall, a fun listen, and a good excuse to poke around the Count Basie discography today.