Reviews by suspiciousnumber

Well, this album is certainly something. What it is I'm not sure, but it's something. It has much more of a 70s rock feel than most of the early punk stuff, which makes sense because those bands were organized around insular scenes, and those scenes were still forming while this was being recorded.

This album is as much a comedy album as it is a proto-punk album, which works both for and against it, since it makes it hard to take the album seriously, but then again you're not supposed to. The music is okay, nothing mindblowing, unlike a lot of the early punk albums that would come out of the NYC scene. Still, it marks a progression towards the idea of punk music, and was also clearly influential on those early punk bands

3/5

Glam rock is never going to be one of my favorite genres, but I do appreciate the audacity of it and the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously (most of the time). This album seems to be from that weird era in the early 00s when bands were just trying to straight up copy 70s rock (looking at you, Wolfmother). It's overall a pretty fun album

3/5

I found this album tough to rate. Taken on it's own, it sounds like generic drum n' bass with nothing that makes it particularly interesting. However, something can only sound generic once a trope has been established, and this album seems to have been critical in establishing many of the tropes of drum n' bass, especially the use of ethereal female vocals (though this had been done in other electronic genres previously). Overall, I don't find this album that interesting to listen to, but it's got clear significance in the development of the genre

3/5

I think it's interesting that both of the Nice Cave albums I've gotten on this list are from his later period, which, at least according to Wikipedia, is a significant departure from his earlier work. I'm interested in listening to more of his work to see how this stuff compares to his earlier work.

This album reminds me a lot of Leonard Cohen, especially Songs of Love and Hate (ironically from Cohen's earlier period). It's not a style of music that particularly appeals to me, but it's something that I can enjoy when it is well-executed as it is here. His voice and lyrics are both beautiful and moving, and the music backs this up well. I'm not sure that I'm ever going to be a Nick Cave fan, but I can't deny that he makes for a compelling listen whenever I've put his music on

4/5

After getting a bunch of albums that were mediocre or worse, I have finally stumbled on an album that I think is really interesting. I not big on folk music, but there is something really compelling about this album. The production is great, bringing out the great qualities of his voice and fitting them perfectly with the guitar. The songs are consistently good, and they are variable enough in their structure that the album was able to keep my attention all the way through

4/5

I don't get it. I just don't get what this is or why I should care. It all sounds okay, but it never makes me sit up and take interest. Beck did this style 10x better on Midnight Vultures, which was released before this album

2/5

This album provides a really interesting contrast with Hounds of Love, the other Kate Bush album that I've gotten on this list, and the album that comes after this one in her discography.

This album is just Kate Bush being weirdass Kate Bush, and I must say that I dig her style. It's far less melodic than Hounds of Love, and makes for a much more difficult listen, but the quality is still clearly here. It seems crazy to me that this album made it to #3 on the UK album chart because it's really out there, but perhaps the general British audience had more of a tolerance for weird stuff then (they've certainly always tolerated weird stuff better than Americans anyway).

I don't have a fucking clue how to describe this album. It can be a somewhat challenging listen at points, but it's always interesting, and she keeps finding ways to bring my attention back when it starts to wander

4/5

Well, I think this is the best British rapper that I've been served on this list. I can say that. I can also say that she at least sounds modern in the era that she's working in, unlike many of the other British rap entries on this list.

It's fine. I don't get why this album in particular was singled out (other than that it was British), but it's at least fine. I still haven't gotten a Kendrick album on this list yet, though, at that fact becomes more glaring every time that I get an album by a British rapper who I've never heard of

3/5

Well, I can definitively say now that whiteboy soul Bowie is not my favorite Bowie (getting off cocaine in Berlin Bowie is actually my favorite Bowie). This album isn't bad, but it feels pretty samey for a lot of it, and there are several albums of his that I like much better. I like that he goes for stuff like this, even though I don't always love the results

3/5

Country is certainly not my preferred genre, but some music is just undeniably charming. Merle Haggard has a great voice and writes excellent songs. The backing music features his voice well while keeping your toes tapping

4/5

What a strange album to have to review for this list. I listened to this album all the time when I was younger, and to this day I love the sound of this album. However, I'm not sure why it's significant other than that it is a really good pop punk album that was part of punk breaking through to the mainstream in the 90s. I don't think it should be criticized for that fact, but it seems like a weird inclusion. Like, is there a Mighty Mighty Bosstones album on this list in recognition of ska's breakthrough in the late 90s?

All pedantry aside, this album fucking kicks ass and it's a real fun listen all the way through. I don't think it broke much new ground, but I suppose it fits on this list as a sign of times in which it was popular

4/5

This was an album I found very interesting. I'm not terribly familiar with post-rock as a genre, though I like a lot of the major influences on that genre. There were multiple parts of this album that reminded me of the Krautrock band Neu, just with more noise included in the music. Really cool album, very relaxed. I would not have guessed that it was made in the mid 90s from the sound. It sounds like it was made a few years later than that

4/5

This album is really cool a lot of the time, and is justifiably considered a landmark techno album. There are a lot of great songs on here, but there are also some songs (Rollin' and Scratchin' and Rock'n Roll, for example) that are really repetitive without much going on. The feel like filler, which is too bad because the album is otherwise pretty stellar

4/5, but a lower 4 than I would have anticipated

Look, if I just admit that I don't get Steely Dan and probably never will, will you guys stop making me listen to their albums? None of their albums have been bad, and I think this was the best one that I've heard so far, but two songs into the album they all just become muzak playing in the elevator of my mind

3/5 Again, it's not bad, I've just never owned a pair of New Balance sneakers, so I think I'm entirely the wrong demographic for this album

Listening to this, I would not have predicted that it was made in 1980. It feels like it was made a few years after that, and the sound of this album was clearly influential in a lot of bands from the 80s and 90s. It's really cool that it was essentially recorded live with no overdubbing, and it's even cooler that it came out sounding good. Plenty of other punk bands have tried that approach and produced albums that would be classics if they didn't sound like complete garbage

4/5

This is a weird album. It's really interesting to hear a glam/psychedelic approach from a band that is firmly rooted in the 90s. It sounds good overall, though there were certainly times when it felt like they were trying to do Bowie, which I don't particularly enjoy (I love Bowie, but it's a big gamble to try and do a meaningful impression of him). Overall the album is really catchy and has enough diversity in the music to keep it interesting. It tapers off a bit toward the end, but overall it's really consistent

4/5

I think this is a fine album, but it's not one of my favorites by Beck. This, Odelay, and Sea Change are all on this list. I think that Odelay, Midnight Vultures, and Morning Phase would be the three Beck albums that I would pick. However, this is all a matter of opinion, and other folks are entitled to theirs

This album benefits by being produced by the Dust Brothers, who also worked on Odelay. What bothers me about this album is that it doesn't feel like he's doing anything new here. A lot of this album feels like Odelay II: Not as Good as Odelay. I guess you could say that this album focuses more on chill grooves from Beck, but I feel like I can get that anywhere. It makes me feel like commercial success is doing a lot of heavy lifting for this album, whereas there are multiple albums that are far more musically interesting that could be on this list

3/5

I lost my review for this album, but it's okay because I didn't really like it very much

2/5

I think this is only the second Prince album that I've listened to (I got Purple Rain on this list a while ago). This album is interesting. Very relaxed, yet the music still feels full. I do love the drum machine he uses throughout this album (and apparently most of his other albums

4/5

This album becomes kind of hard to follow as it progresses. It starts out with two absolutely classic rock songs, and then begins to explore outwards from there. It's Paul McCartney, though, so the songs are great. I was hoping for more of a rock album based on the songs that I knew, but at the same time it makes for a nice, relaxed album

4/5