Reviews by stevey_

There are moments in this record that feel so post-punk that it’s hard to reconcile that this record came out before punk had exploded even globally. It can’t be post punk if it came first, right? Maybe kraut rock and punk rock came from similar strands of glam rock. Maybe post-punk is actually a progression of kraut rock?

A lot of reviews talk about this album going off the rails at the halfway point and I didn’t really catch that. If anything, it took that one extra step towards punk rock and got more interesting in the second half. I think my real score for this is somewhere around 3.5 stars, but I'm going to round up because I listened through a few times and it started playing after another album last night and I still wasn't mad about listening to it again.

This record doesn’t really know what it wants to be (except successful). It’s all over the place and tries very hard to channel classic British pop rock and make it successful in the 90s. “Magic America” is notably awful, but the rest of the album kinda meanders somewhere in “forgettable” territory.

This is a tremendously influential hip hop album, but I was impressed today by how “samey” the production feels across this record. And, of course, the lyrics don’t hold up at all thirty-something years later.

As a “rock & roll guy” who learned the flute for highschool band in the early 00s, a lot of people thought I’d really love this band. I've always struggled to actually get into them, but I kinda understand the vision and the appeal. There's a world where I love this, but in this world, it's only music for very specific times/moods.

I just reviewed Dolly’s “Coat Of Many Colors” album on Sunday (it’s Wednesday), but she died in the meantime, so I’m not surprised to get this today. I understand why, but it kinda feels like this site uses artists’ deaths to juice album ratings a bit. Or certainly, that’s a side effect of pushing out albums the day after a death is announced. I gave that album a pretty mediocre rating, but after listening to this I'm wondering if I owe Dolly an extra star.

ANYWAY… this record has all the powerhouse ingredients, but somehow that doesn't always seem to translate to mega-success like you'd expect. I'm thinking sorta specifically about The Highwomen, I guess, but I'm not sure this one feels like it's greater than the sum of it's parts either. All three women are strong vocalists, but this whole record feels like they played it safe and met in the middle everywhere. There's not much genre bending, unless you're talking about bending Country and Folk ballads... but that distinction is about as flexible as a twizzler anyway. Where's the punchy rock-adjacent stuff? Where's the country barn-burner? Despite the cover art, this record feels about as beige as 1987 itself.

True score: 2.5

It's background music for doing something manic... I increased the playback speed of my work's compliance training videos to match this record today, so that was kinda fun. I was on the borderline of jungle psychosis by the end, so I don't think I can fully endorse this use.

I'm sorry, what?! I didn't come into this expecting much, but I'm thoroughly impressed by this record. It fills a niche that I'm only now realizing I was trying to fill with other artists who didn't quite do the thing that I was looking for.

I don't think I've encountered much British Folk music on this list yet, but I feel like the album-gorithm will be sending more my way soon (I've noticed it seems to loosely group albums, no matter how much it claims to be random).

I have no complaints about this one. If we talked and you insisted this was one of your favorite records of all time, I’d believe you. I don’t personally care that much, but if you’re into it; I love that for you.

The reviews of this one make me feel like I really missed something on my listen. I have the utmost respect for BB King, but this record didn’t do anything for me. Maybe I’ve listened to Get Down With James Brown: Live At The Apollo Vol. IV too many times and it’s spoiled all similar live albums for me. Maybe I need to listen again.

Parts of this were totally fine, but parts were absolutely excruciatingly cringey.

Yep, you can just put that desert blues right the fuck into my veins.

Is it my favorite? Am I even convinced this should be required listening? No, but it's infinitely more interesting than the Aerosmith album yesterday.

Sure, Aerosmith needs another record on this list. I'm up to like, what, 4 now? They're basically the 2nd most important band in rock and roll history behind The Beatles, apparently. Granted, nobody I've ever talked to has listed them as a major influence on their decision to pick up an instrument and play music, or put them on their personal listening Mount Rockmore(tm). But yeah, let's keep piling records into this finite list and hope that it'll convince people that they've earned it. (Update: after review, it's only 3 albums and I’m finally done with Aerosmith on this list)
This deserves 1.5 stars - one for "Sweet Emotion", and one half for "Walk This Way". Did I round up or down?

I listened to this yesterday? I'm sure I did but I can't recall a single remarkable thing to put here.

I looked for reasons to downgrade this one, but after 2 listens, I can't talk myself into it. Maybe a little too busy to put on as background music at a cocktail party, but that doesn't stop it from being a killer jazz record.

Meh'dern Life is Meh, by Meh.

Whether The Cramps invented Rockabilly/Psychobilly or not, they invented the only version that matters to me. This website already thinks my tastes favor punk, but THIS is the specific type of punk that my tastebuds cannot resist. The Cramps get 5 stars whether they deserve them or not.

When I saw this was my album for today, I decided to deviate from my normal routine of listening right away and would circle back later in the day. When I finally did get to it, it immediately sounded oddly familiar and I realized that I had a burned copy of this back in highschool. I was never a Ministry fan, per se, but I had a few friends who were big industrial music fans and I dabbled semi-heavily in the genre for a bit because of them.
This album sounds remarkably different when not pumping through the Sony Explod speakers in my '87 Accord, and it's harder to relate when I'm sitting in an air conditioned room and not sweating through my black t-shirt because it's 100deg with 90% humidity and I gotta drive that Accord over to pick up my paltry paycheck and get it over to the bank before they close so I have money to do something with my friends and girlfriend tonight.

BUT, if the last twenty-something years were actually an strange fever dream and I wake up back in highschool and need to run the errand above, I can't imagine choosing anything but industrial metal to do it. And bonus points cuz "Jesus Built My Hotrod" almost sounds like a Primus song; I'm sure I'll find a reason to put in one of those CDs later.

Objectively, it probably doesn't justify more than 3 stars but ratings are subjective, so....

If you know any DK songs, they’re probably on this record. 4.5

I feel like I should be more into early shoegaze because I enjoy how the genre has developed over the years. I struggle to give this any more than “it’s fine” on my listen today. Maybe I’ll defer my rating for one more spin?