Reviews by suspiciousnumber

This album is cool, and I think its fair to say that it's ahead of its time for rock music. The problem is that it sounds like a lot of other things that came after it, which makes it seem less distinct. I had to listen to it twice before it really sunk in, but I think this is a very well executed album that I would not have expected to be from the early 2000s if I hadn't seen the album date

4/5 Hard to describe, but I like it the longer I listen

I think I liked this album overall. It went by kinda quick, and I'm not sure how long I was listening in silence before I realized that it was over. Point being, it didn't hold my attention super well, but any time I checked in with it I thought it was cool, so I'ma give it a solid grade

4/5 sure, why not

This album was good overall. I didn't love it right away, but I feel like it got better as it went on. Definitely an 80s album, but it's cool to hear an Argentinian take on early synth pop

3/5

Dude, I don't fucking know. I keep listening to this album, and I think it's decent, but I never finish it or remember anything about it or write any notes. It seems likely that I'm not Shpongled. I don't think it's bad by any means, there are definitely parts that I really enjoy. It's just that overall, it's like being in water that is your exact body temperature. It's nice at times, but most of the time you're seeking out other stimulation

3/5

Well, this is an unfortunate first. This is the first time that I've gotten an album from a Scottish artist that I wasn't terribly impressed with. I think this is good. It's well executed and well-produced, but it's not my style, and I don't even really know why. I feel like it's too focused on the singer and the music isn't given a prominent enough roll. I suppose it's the same issue I tend to have with a lot of folk music

3/5 I'm really conflicted about this one because there's a lot here, but I didn't connect with it. Maybe I just don't like his voice. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood. Who knows. I'm sorry, Scotland.

3/5

I got another Depeche Mode album a week or two ago, so I'm starting to realize that hearing Violator first probably got my hopes up a bit for the rest of their albums. I liked this one second most next to Violator, and it has lots of great songs on it, but it feels dull at times, and it starts off a bit slow. Still, a really solid album that doesn't sound a lot like the other music being made at this time

4/5

This is not my kind of punk music. This is the kind of punk music I want to hear in a movie or a TV show where characters that do not normally go to punk shows are required to go to a punk venue in order to obtain information from a suspect or drugs or guns or speak to some sort of punk guru. In many ways, it's a platonic ideal of punk, and yet it is not the kind of punk music that I enjoy.

3/5 Not bad, but I like my punk impure, mingled with the blood of far flung genres

Opeth is another metal band that I've been curious about for a while, but haven't taken the initiative to listen to before. I don't love the gutteral scream parts of the album, but the melodic singing parts of the album are good. The music is very good overall, and I can see why they are so highly regarded. I do wish that more metal bands would put out instrumentals. I very commonly find myself thinking that the vocals are the problem in a lot of really good metal albums

Still, 4/5

You know, I wasn't excited about getting a folk punk album this morning, but this cheeky fucker won me over. Lyrics are heartfelt and his scratchy ass voice adds a lot of character to a stripped down musical accompaniment. Good stuff

4/5

I keep listening to this one but not writing anything down. Today I get it off my plate. I like Danny Brown. His voice is a little gratting, but he makes fun hip-hop. This album had it's moments, but it's not really one that I intend to come back to. I feel like there's a Danny Brown album out there for me, but I just didn't really click with this one

3/5

I'm not sure if everyone was treated to a Dolly Parton album this morning, or just me. I did have a similar experience with getting a Sinead O'Conner album a few days after her death, though that seemed like more of a coincidence.

This album is an interesting choice, coming so late in her career. It's great, and her voice held up well for an incredible amount of time. I'm sure other folks have written about her legacy, so little is needed to say on that account, other than that she tangibly made the world a better place, and we are all poorer for the loss of her.

4/5 I'll rate the album honestly, while acknowledging that I have received gifts from the album artist, using my children's names. Fuckin 5 star lady though. If you're looking for someone to replace all the confederate monuments, you could do a hell of a lot worse, and a great sculptor could do some wild shit with that hair

Damn, this album goes by fast. It's incredibly crafted, one of those magical singer-songwriter albums from the 70s where every song is at least good, you've heard most of them on the radio (yes, I'm old), and several of the songs are all time greats. The production on this album is something else. Everything is so clear and has so much character to it. Every note on the guitar is like the trail of flavors that a good scotch leaves you with. His voice is just right. I'm talking myself into 5 start territory here

5/5 I'm not about to mess with Jim

This was okay, but it felt really generic at a lot of points. Each individual song was fine, and some of them were good, but overall it felt like a bunch of other things I've heard before. I feel like part of the issue is the challenge of evaluating modern music, which is less genre and instrument bound, which means you can have any style of music on any album, but the artist is not necessarily innovating within one style of music, which I find very hard to compare with works from the past. She is versitile in her songwriting definitely, and she has a nice voice.

3/5 I think the album does get better as it goes, but the beginning is definitely feels like a lot of things I've heard before

I liked this album overall. There were times when it lost my interest, but John Frusciante certainly knows what he's doing musically. It's all well executed, but it's not really my thing

3/5

I've been curious about Mastodon for a while, since I've been hearing about them as a relatively sophisticated metal band for a long time. This didn't rock my socks off, which is probably appropriate for progressive metal. Overall a cool album. Vocalist definitely sounds like Ozzy at times, and the music definitely sounds like Tool at times, but it's its own thing. I'd like it better if it had removed at least one of my socks, but it is what it is

3/5 Fun fact: The word "Mastodon" means "Nipple tooth"

This album was fun, and overall it felt sorta timeless, like it didn't belong to a particular era. I think that led it to feel generic at times, but it was still worth the listen overall. This artist seems like she would be fun to see live

3/5

This one is hard to put your finger on. Really variable electronic album. At first, I thought it was going to be a bit generic, but it goes through a lot of styles and does them well. Really fun and worth another listen

4/5

This album was cool overall, but it got a bit dull in parts. One of the issues I have with this style of metal is that there's usually so much going on at once, that I can't clue in to any of the individual things happening. This had that issue at times, but it was also a fun listen at times

3/5

When Ornette Coleman named his debut album The Shape of Jazz to Come, he made a bold statement about what he was doing relative to everyone else. Even though jazz went in a different direction, Coleman was right to be so bold.

Refused made a similar statement here. Unfortunately, I've never felt like this album lived up to the hype of its name. New Noise is an absolute banger, but if that song wasn't on this album, I don't think people would talk about this at all. I wanted to like this album. I wanted to like it back in 2002 when I first heard about it. However, I just find it a bit dull with some really fun moments. Not bad, but way too weak of an effort for such a gradiose name

3/5

I like this album overall, though not as much as Violator, which really hits the sweet spot for me. This one still sounds like Depeche Mode, but I feel like the turn towards the alternative rock movement hurt them as it hurt lots of artists in this era. This isn't nearly so bad as some of the stuff put out by heavy metal bands in this period, but I think that it could have been better if they had explored inside themselves a little more, rather than looking outward. Still, I don't want to be too harsh on this album. I like it, I just feel like I'm waiting for them to drop a banger on me, and the songs just don't reach that level

3/5