Reviews by stevey_

This is an interesting inclusion for the list. It's been about 5 years now, so I have the perspective of some time that a lot of the top reviews didn't. I can say that none of these songs are in Lana's top streams on Spotify, in case that surprises you.
This album is fine, but I didn't hear anything extraordinary on my listen. I can hear that the sound is a bit of a departure for LDR, so I give her credit there. I think the vibe was probably appropriate for the pandemic (or just barely post-pandemic) world at the time and that might have skewed some of the critical reviews. In any case, I don't feel like I'll be revisiting this one often (ever).

I think I’ve given 2 stars to every pop album from this era, but maybe this one will surprise me and deserve less.

All the best parts of this album feel like things that didn't quite make it onto N.E.R.D.'s debut record, "In Search Of..." so The Neptunes just used them here. Actually, THAT record should be on this list if we want to give The Neptunes some love. They were really cooking in 2002, and the only reason this album has any residual value. If there's an instrumental-only version of this record, I'd like to listen to that.

Fitting that this album ends with "Never Again", as that's exactly how I feel about it.

Listening to this record felt a lot like watching "Repo! The Genetic Opera"; if you like this record, you'll probably enjoy that movie.

1995 feels like an unpopular time to make an operatic goth record. I know goth new wave had it's moment in the 80s (The Cure, Depeche Mode, etc.) and again around 2000 (Deadsy, Orgy, Powerman 5000, etc.) but it doesn't seem like this was the thing in 1995. Just like the The Darkness album I got yesterday, that out-of-placeness makes me inclined to down-rate this. I'm not sure how influential it is if it didn't really drive a movement.

Also, I'm not really a lyrics guy, but that whole "I really love it when you tell me to stop, Oh it's turning me on" thing was weird.

If you’ve heard their version of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”, I think you can probably skip the rest of this album. It’s a fun romp, through the days of arena-era hair metal, but that’s all I can really say. Musically, it doesn’t feel like they’re doing anything extremely different than Buckcherry or a few other party rock bands at the time. It missed the hair metal era by a few decades, glam rock by at least one more, and it didn’t kickstart a new era of either. So, it’s just… a tribute act? It’s a good time, but not list-worthy.

Someone said this is standard issue for cab drivers, and that feels unfortunately accurate. I could survive a listen through this, but I’m not sure I will ever listen to it again. There was a section of “El Bab” that sounded surprisingly western and modern and that was my most notable moment because it took me off guard.

After Reggatta De Blanc, I wasn't going into this with high hopes. I think that proved to be the right approach - most of this was right on the edge of underwhelming. I get that they are trying to explore some new spaces here and I appreciate them getting away from the reggae stuff, but it just doesn't really work for me. I will call out "Mother" (the track with the lowest spotify listens) is a very big swing, and I kinda love it for that reason. If they did more of that, I might actually look forward to these albums. By far my standout track on this one, and the only reason this didn't get 2 stars.

PS- I retroactively downgraded Reggatta De Blanc because I reread my review and boy did I not like that record (I think I was trying to be deferential to it's influence on later music).

Imagine if more New Wave evolved into this instead of Synth Pop. I like the mix of funk and metal. I feel like metal is the musical equivalent of what salt or vanilla or lemon juice are to cooking... a little bit helps enhance all the other flavors, but too much will overwhelm everything else. I think they got it right here (at least considering how popular metal was in 1988).

She can sing, but she can't pick a man (apparently).

Without reading any reviews here, I know there will be a lot of very dismissive reviews from people who can't be bothered with Samba & Bossa Nova music. That's fine, you do you. Bossa Nova scratches my brain just right, especially after a long busy day. There's nothing better for a pre-dinner cocktail hour on a Saturday evening, or to help transition from work to home mode. Especially if you can play it on a vintage turntable. Bossa Nova, and Astrud's voice in particular, overwhelm me with nostalgia for an era I missed by a generation or two.

Astrud sang on the Getz/Gilberto version of "Girl from Ipanema" which, I would argue, made her the enduring voice of Bossa Nova music forever; if you need to explain the genre to someone with one song, I think you play THAT version of THAT song for them. Or you could play "Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars)", also from Getz/Gilberto, and also sung by Astrud. Either way, hers is the voice they must hear to fully appreciate the genre. None of the songs here quite rise to that same level, but it's a lovely record made just as Bossa Nova was at peak popularity in America. If you enjoy the lightheartedness of "Parade (A Banda)" on this record, you should dig into Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (who, sadly, aren't on this list).

Worth finding an original vinyl copy. Also worth finding a dry Manhattan and an Eames chair.

There’s a scene in the movie Almost Famous where the main character’s mom (Frances McDormand) takes his sister's (Zooey Deschanel) copy of S&G's Bookends, points to their eyes, and says she can’t listen to them because they're on drugs. I used to scoff at that scene as a teenager, because I'd heard their music and there's no way they were cool enough to do drugs like that. As I get older I realize two things can be true: you can be on drugs AND you can be extremely boring.

"A Simple Desultory Philippic" is probably the one exception here, but it's also an aggressive attempt at copying Bob Dylan (and even includes a Dylan reference), so it has to be discounted slightly.

You could talk me into this being a top ten all-time hip hop record, but you’ll have to talk me into it.this feels like what hip hop was before the preoccupation with gangsta rap in the 90s, which today means it’s “alt hip hop”.
The track order on this record is kinda hilarious to me… by the time I get to “Ya Mama” I start to wonder how much more goofball music I can handle, and then “Passin’ Me By” starts and I’m sucked right back in. This record covers a lot of ground. I’m at like 3.5 stars

I listened to the YouTube version and I enjoyed it. I wish YT would let me do other things on my phone while I have a video playing, but I understand that capitalism requires my uncompromised attention.
I don't have many notes here because I don't have much experience with Indian music. I could see myself owning this, but there are other "world music" records I would buy first.

I’m an unapologetic Black Keys fan, but I only ever what to talk about the blues records. I have to believe this is the only BK record on the list, so I'm going to use my time to express all of my BK related feelings.

If you’re going to put one Black Keys album on this list, this makes the most sense. It’s their breakthrough, and the bridge between the two-piece blues of their first 5 albums (plus a few later records), and the more layered and expansive commercial sound of the other (how many?) albums. For me, those two sounds are like a regular cola and it's no calorie (but not diet!) alternate version; the stripped down blues being the former, and the multi-layered commercial blues being the latter. The heavy blues sound is great, but full strength isn't for everyone. Unfortunately, all the things that made that commercial sound broadly palatable and successful - the "feel good" stuff - are all the same things that make it easy to tear apart and belittle. Zero calorie soda is still bad for you, you just feel better about it because it's got less calories. Ok, this metaphor really started falling apart. Anyways... they chose to add the artificial sweeteners and, if they're happy with that choice, I love that for them.

I own this, and everything through El Camino on vinyl. I had to get off the train there, but I should pick up Delta Kream and Peaches just to round out the blues collection. From my perspective, Brothers is the "I'll have one The Black Keys, please!" album that sums up everything they do. However, hipster as I am, Chulahoma will probably always be my favorite BK album. That’s convenient because absolutely nobody has ever listened to it (or knows anything about Junior Kimbrough) so it’s super easy to have conversations about it, and I love that for me.

Recently, there’s an SNL clip from 2018 making its rounds online where Matt Damon and Leslie Jones argue about Weezer and whether they made any good albums after “Pinkerton!” Look it up if you don’t know it. Anyways, I think I’m Leslie Jones in the Black Keys version of that sketch (Brothers would be that inflection point record for me).

I actively refused to validate Janis Joplin when I was younger, but older me can admit she was a real powerhouse. This is probably the only JJ record you really need - it’s got Bobby McGee and Mercedes Benz on it, and that’s about as much as most people know of her catalog.

I get it, but I’m not sure I get it, you know? This record is fine, and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who fell in love with it when it came out and still holds it dear. But, I don’t know how much power it has to convert people 25 years later. It’s a lot like the typeface used on the cover: endearing and novel for 2020, but a bit cliche now.

"Disillusion" was the song that caught my attention most, but it's a very late swing in an album that otherwise all feels remarkably similar. It's a solid debut effort, but doesn't feel like it rises to the hype.

If an album isn't on your favorite streaming service, and/or you don't like ads, consider looking it up on BandCamp. This on is available there for easy, ad-free streaming.

I can empathize with reviewers who can't get into this one. This record starts slow and spends more time meandering than building towards anything in particular. That said, I can hear the post punk/new wave/shoegaze places it came from and the places where this sound will go later - namely: post rock, emo, and indie of the 90s (and beyond, but one step at a time).

"Pale and Skinny Girl" is totally 'grunge band does a soft song'.
"Blue And Grey Shirt" sounds like the seeds of American Football
"Bad Liquor" is just a fun blues rock jam. Nothing before it suggested they had that kind of song in them, but I'm here for it.
I also hear early pieces of Slint in here. It's harder for me to pin down exact references for this one, but the front of the album made me think of "Spiderland" a few times.

Rating on context would push this into 4 star territory, but on it's own I don't think it climbs above 3 at the most. I've going to go like 3.5? 3.25? and round down.

Listen, I had this entire record to prepare for “Someone Like You”, but it didn’t help. My dog, Caddy, passed away last year at age 13. When he was younger I used to crate him during the day and I always kept a radio on for him. I can’t remember the exact circumstances, but one day I was home and he was in his crate (he hung out there a lot, it was his safe space) and I could hear him howling. I went to investigate and heard this song was on the radio. Interesting.
I had no idea he had any proclivities for howling at this point, but as time went on I figured out he did it semi-often and had favorite songs. We made a playlist. “Someone Like You”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, and “Come Together” were the first songs. We later added “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”, and we’d frequently start our weekend mornings with some karaoke. “Someone Like You” always had to be last though, because it put him deep in his feels and he wouldn’t sing anymore after it. Rest In Peace, bubba, I hope we get to do it again someday.

Kinda like a UK version of Calexico in that they finally made an album for themselves and it hit bigger than any previous efforts. I hear a little overlap in sound as well, but way less ‘American Southwest’ here. So far it has the same ‘dark winter night record’ vibe that I enjoy so much about Calexico’s Feast Of Wire. No, I can’t explain that, I think you just gotta listen to both albums to get it.
Not sure yet how I feel about the falsetto vocals sprinkled around the tracks I’ve heard so far, he seems to dabble in both Neil Young and Tom Petty territory at different times (also, a dash of John Lennon). That’s a fun intersection of cliches, but maybe too much for one band. I can hear some Fastball creeping in on “Opus 40”, but overall, a lot of Flaming Lips style expansive ‘vastness’ in the sound. Definitely drawing a lot of influence there. 1998 Album Of The Year feels like maybe a stretch, but I’m enjoying it on my first pass. I like the organ and saxophone inclusions though.

I think it’s a solid 4. More listens could get me to go higher but maybe only to 4.5

This is like “if Neil Young made jazz”… and it’s kinda awesome? From the first track, I couldn’t have predicted where this album would end up. We get psychedelic rock, folk/country rock, bluesy jam band stuff, and then just pure jazz? What. The. Hell. (In a good way)

If I’m going to complain (I am), it’s that I wish there was a little more cohesion. I don’t know if that means doing less, or doing more. Like, would a longer album give them more space to link up all the pieces and transition more smoothly between styles? Maybe it’s supposed to feel like each side is a different album and it just feels weird in the post-vinyl world. Either way, what a ride!

I don't think I ever listened to the whole album. College Dropout thru Graduation were really more my era, but I had some Pandora stations that included a few of these songs as well. This was my last stop on the Kanye Express though.