Reviews by suspiciousnumber

I listened to this album all the way through twice, and it somehow made no impression on me, either good or bad. The music is pleasant enough, but it has an unbelievable ability to fade into the background

3/5

This album was my first exposure to Frank Zappa, way back in the day. I liked it pretty well when I first listened to it, but I don't like Zappa's schtick as much as I used to since I've gotten to encounter lots of weird music that is more suited to my tastes.

Despite that fact, I think this is a good album overall. It's an early album that showed that popular music could be deliberately strange. It's also a lot more accessible than Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefhart. There are plenty of political and social messages in the album as well. What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body is the highlight of the album for me.

4/5

I lost my reivew for this one, but I thought it was okay. I was excited to get an avant garde album from Brazil, but since I'm less familiar Brazilian music in general, it's harder for me to pick out the significance of it

3/5

I've really liked the Air albums that I've got on this list. I like Virgin Suicides better than this album, but this one works great as well. Their music is very atmospheric, and they play around a lot with the texture of the music to keep it from getting dull.

4/5

I've been curious about the Beta Band for a while, after being introduced to them in High Fidelity. I liked this album a lot. It's very eclectic, with a good mix of sweet, slow songs and upbeat numbers. Scottish folks really know how to make great experimental pop music for some reason. It's great to see a rock band embrace electronic music tech and techniques, and everything is very well executed

4/5

This album went really fast. It kind of played in the background. It's very fun and pleasant, though. The vocalist has a beautiful voice that blends well with the music

4/5

Fuck man, Stevie Wonder was such a visionary. He had the ability to write songs that were simple and beautiful, but he was also innovative in a million different ways. This album has incredible range, beginning and ending with love songs, but running through a bunch of other styles in between. Superstition is just one of the greatest pop songs of all time

5/5

I don't have a huge amount to say about this album, but it's a really nice country album from an era where country music was much less shitty than it is now. She has a beautiful voice

4/5

The B-52s have such an interesting style. I don't particularly like their sound, but at the same time, having a camp approach to music is very interesting. This is especially true relative to all their peers, since I can't think of another band working in that punk/alternative area of rock that was doing what they were doing. It's not a band I'm generally all that interested in listening to, but I have to admit that they put together a good and wholly original album here

4/5

Fuck. Public Enemy always goes so hard. Their beats are always on point, and always intense and gritty. Chuck D somehow manages to be underrated as a rapper despite being one of the most famous rappers in history. Flava Flav is also there. This isn't my favorite Public Enemy album, but it is a stellar piece of work

4/5

This album didn't really make much of an impression on me. In general, I've been a big fan of the African music that I've gotten on this list, but perhaps I just lack the context for this album in a way that I didn't with bands like Fela Kuti or Songhoy Blues. This album is fine, it sounds good, but it leaves me feeling a bit bored

3/5

Common is one of those hip hop artists that I've never looked into too much, but I've been more curious about him since I learned about neo-soul and his connection to it. The music on this album is excellent. I haven't heard a bad track yet, and each one has its individual style. I don't find Common's rhymes to be terribly compelling. They aren't bad, but I would consider him a second tier rapper. However, this album is from 2000, which is not a particularly good era for rap in general

3/5 this was close to a 4, but the lyrical style (and several of the words he uses) haven't aged particularly well

This is the third Nick Drake album that I've gotten on this list, and like the others it's very good. He has a wonderful voice, and his songwriting is always striking for its beauty. There's so much subtlety in his voice. It's never overdone, but the emotions flood through anyway. The musical accompaniment fits him well too, and the production is excellent. The recording feels very intimate

4/5

Man, am I a sucker for 90s east coast hip-hop. The music is fucking great (having DJ Premier doesn't hurt a bit), and the rapping has aged relatively well. This album suffers a bit from comparison to other albums from the same city in the same era (very few albums hold up well against 36 Chambers and Illmatic), but it's good overall.

3/5, but very close to a 4

In terms of noise rock, this album was actually really melodic. There was a lot to grab onto, while still being experimental. Definitely one that I'm planning on coming back to

4/5

I'm not sure if I'm just not in the mood for Nick Cave this morning, or what, but I didn't like this album quite as much as the previous Nick Cave albums that I've gotten. It's not bad at all, but I really enjoyed his other works, while this left me a bit flat, though, to be fair, I am in a shitty mood

3/5

Well, I don't hate this album, which is more than I can say for Trout Mask Replica. It feels a lot more like he's trying to do his thing here, and not trying to show everyone how weird he can be. This album may be less interesting than Trout Mask Replica, but it is definitely a lot easier on the ears

3/5

I was excited for this album when I read that Bob Mould of Husker Du was in this band, since Zen Arcade is a foundational album for me. You can definitely hear his guitar sound all over this album. However, I didn't find it interesting overall. It's an early 90s alternative album, but every time I tried to listen to it, it just kept fading into the background

3/5

It's hard to have much to say about some of this early electronic work, but I certainly enjoy it. Tangerine Dream shares some similarities with Kraftwerk in terms of their use of synthesizers and sequencers, but this feels much more spacey and ambient than anything from Kraftwerk. It's progressive, but there's always something interesting happening. There's a lot of music that came after this album that was clearly influenced by it

4/5

I'd listened to this album many years ago, but I forgot how funny Johnny Cash was. His musical performance is great, and deserves every bit of the reputation this album has as one of the great live albums of all time. His charisma on this album while entertaining the prisoners in between songs is incredible. Truly a great concept for a live album that was executed to perfection

4/5