Reviews by stevey_

In highschool (when this came out) I used to keep a physical list of all the CDs I wanted to buy, and this was certainly on that list. Unfortunately, my budget only stretched so far and I never managed to buy this one. Being familiar with all the singles from this album, I was excited to dig into the full album. Sadly, beyond those singles, many of the album tracks never needed to be recorded. It feels like they wrote an incredibly solid EP, and then pulled in some studio goof-arounds to fill out for LP length. “Little Room”? “I Think I Smell a Rat”? Both of these could (should) have been bonus tracks stuck on the end of the last track a la Green Day’s “All By Myself”. Sometimes recording an album in a week isn’t something to brag about.
I say all that, and then I wonder if The Black Keys would have made it out of Ohio without the commercial success of The White Stripes …I truly don’t know and it may keep me up tonight.
An influential album, to be sure, but I had hoped for some new hidden gems to celebrate.

This band was not at all on my radar, and I’m a little upset about that. I spend a fair amount of time listening to “classic” punk, but maybe this leans too far into Metal or Post-Punk and that’s kept it out of my algorithms? In any case, it’s a joy to get to discover this after a week of albums that meandered through less interesting genres.
Musically, this feels surprisingly well put together for a group of kids playing live-to-tape in a studio in 1980. It certainly feels like a band comfortable in their sound, and I’m very interested in hearing more of their discography to see how that develops more over time. Albums like this are why I started this project.

Oh, Amy.
I’ve dabbled in her catalog, but haven’t listened to this full album before. As a concept, I think I’m really interested in early 00’s HipHop/R&B lyrics sung over classic jazz (sometimes leaning bossa nova?) instrumentals. For the most part, the frankness of the album doesn’t rise to a level that would get Amy canceled today, but Stronger Than Me sets a problematic(tm) early tone and casts a slight shadow over the rest of the album.
In any case, it’s no wonder that the world took notice of Amy here. A 19 year old who ‘writes it like it is’ and then tells you about it with pipes like these is certainly someone to take notice of, and the classic instrumentals make sure she doesn’t get overlooked in a semi-crowded early 00’s Pop/R&B space.
If I zone out the lyrics a little bit, the vibes are great for a cocktail hour album, except that it’s difficult to unwind when I’m being called a ladyboy, or gay, for having feelings. Maybe Amy’s views on that would have softened by now if she was still with us. We can hope, but we’ll never know.

Oh, Today!? The day after Brian Wilson’s death? That's convenient.
I have as much passing familiarity with The Beach Boys as any active music fan my age. That's to say: I am aware of their hits, saw the cameos on Full House, have heard them praised countless times for their influence, and only partially blame them for the Tate-LaBianca murders.
To me, The Beach Boys have always been the quintessential "We have The Beatles at home" band. The waspy goody two-shoes appearance and falsetto harmonies quickly get cloying, and somehow make The Beatles’ Ed Sullivan performance feel edgy.
I’m sure Pet Sounds will be on this list because that's always cited as their most influential album, so knowing this is (at most) their 2nd most influential album doesn't help my opinion of it. If I'm apathetic about side 1, I'm actively disinterested in side 2. (Sorry Brian, Rest In Peace)

This starts out like a love letter to The Beatles, but becomes more David Bowie(TM) over the course of the album. I'm not steeped enough in early 70's pop-rock to know if that was the dominant sound at the time, or if Bowie was particularly fixated on echoing the Liverpudlians.
If I inherited a vinyl copy of this album it would probably get some spins, but I'm not sure I'd buy a copy. Likewise, if I had a copy of this (or, more likely, a greatest hits CD) when I was in my "classic rock phase" in high school, I think I would have really gotten into it. Maybe I need to dig into the catalog more.

This is one of those albums that I’ve always known I *should* listen to, but never quite got around to. This was a little before my time, plus I was east coast biased when I started getting into hiphop in the late 90’s. Obviously I’ve heard many of these songs over the years, but it’s fun to finally catch-up on the full album… even if the lyrics (and Snoop's politics) might be divisive today. It holds up better if you don’t listen too closely and just surf the vibes.

If you've consumed popular media in the last 15yrs, you've probably heard the first 4 songs from this album. Beyond that, the album will feel brand new if you can stay awake for it.
Also- I refuse to believe the intro isn’t a Blue Man Group track.

I mostly know Ray from his Diet Pepsi commercials in the 90’s, so it’s nice to get a better feel for his catalog. Really surprised that I didn’t get a copy of this album when I inherited my grandparents vinyl collection 15 years ago. All in all, an easy listen that I could see myself revisiting under the right circumstances (cocktail hour)

The beginning of this album felt like walking into the middle of a set, so I’m not surprised to read that this was their 6th album. This probably feels great for established fans, but a little disorienting for new listeners.
Overall, this is an easy listen. It isn’t really my thing, but I can appreciate its place in time and the influence it must have had on later UK pop-rock artists.

Maybe avant-pop isn't for me... at least not this kind.

While I'm positive that songs like Lizard Lady, Birthday Boy, and Hello Skinny made major impressions on Les Claypool, they don't hold me enough to warrant a revisit of this album in the future. I did save Birthday Boy on Spotify just in case I need to ruin somebody's big day.