Reviews by suspiciousnumber

Well, seeing that this was from a British DJ that I've never heard of did not inspire a lot of confidence in me based on my previous experience with this list, but I can at least understand why this album is on here. The samples from NYC including a lot of conversations with people associated with New York's underbelly made for an interesting listen. Overall the music is uninspiring. Not bad, just not really breaking any ground for the time. I was looking for something else to listen to a couple of songs in, but still it's a cool idea for an album

3/5

This album is certainly a time capsule. R&B has changed a lot since this album was popular, and it's neat to go back and listen to stuff from that era that helped define a sound that has long since passed. At least, it's neat to go back and listen to the good stuff from that era (I'm still angry that I had to listen to that Limp Bizkit album). This album really holds up, both in terms of its music and its messaging. It's packed full of monster hits, but there's also really no filler on the album

4/5

What a stellar album! When I first heard this album, I thought it was from the early 90s because it felt like it fit in perfectly with the alternative scene at that time. The fact that it was made 10 years before I thought it was blew my mind. This album seems to come out of nowhere, drops a bunch of times alternative rock songs, and then it disappears just as mysteriously as it came. So many of the Midwestern punk/postpunk albums seem to have this quality where it seems like they're coming from the future to release their albums

Every single song is good, and there's no consistent musical style, yet the album feels like a coherent whole.

5/5 This album fucks

This is an album that I've always been curious about. I've never listened to one of Prince's albums, but I have tremendous respect for his abilities as an artist. This album shows off those abilities well. The album is cinematic, which is certainly appropriate, and all of the songs are good. There's a good mix between upbeat poppy songs and more somber ones

4/5

This album was more interesting than I thought it would be. I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed listening to it all that much because it's not a style of music that I find all that enjoyable (nor did Dion, for that matter), but the production is interesting. Phil Spector may be a god damned murderous psychopath, but he knew how to make a compelling sound. The themes of redemption that run through the album make it very interesting. A pop star who has been through hell and is now trying to make good on the other side is an interesting theme for an album. Dion's story and his perspective on it is worth listening to, if only just once

3/5

Pretty wild that this is my second album with Rod Stewart as the vocalist in a week, and neither one of them were his solo albums (the other was a Jeff Beck album). This album was fun to listen to, but didn't feel like it had a huge amount of substance to it. It has what I would consider to be a pretty generic 1970s sound. However, it was made in 1971, so it could be that this album was highly influential in forming the 70s rock sound and other artists were aping Faces. Having Ronnie Wood playing guitar on the album may be contributing to that feeling, since he has a pretty iconic style.

Everything about the album is pretty good, none of it is great, but it was still worth a listen

3/5

This album provides an interesting contrast with Maggot Brain, the previous Parliament album that I got on this list. Whereas that album was ponderous and often dark (though also very fun once you get through the first track), this album is much more lighthearted. The addition of horns from James Brown's band really adds a lot to the group. It has some absolute classics on it, and even the songs that I didn't know were all good. It's also nice to see dance music that is able to build slowly over a long track rather than focusing on a more stereotypical formula.

The influence of this album is really hard to state. It provides so much of the sound for West Coast rap in the early 90s, but it's presence is everywhere in electronic music and modern dance music as well.

4/5

This is sort of a strange album for me to get on the heels of The Kinks's Preservation Society album. There, The Kinks were focused on the little aspects of British life that the liked and thought were worth saving. Here, Harvey focuses on the darkness of British history and violence that built the British empire. This album is deep and emotionally resonant. The music is all well executed despite the fact that Harvey departed from the style of her previous albums during this work.

4/5 Really cool work, and one of the seminal anti-war albums released during my lifetime

This is certainly an interesting album. It's not the sound that I've come to associate with the Kinks, but it helps me understand better why The Kinks are so highly regarded as a band as well. The definitely took a chance with this album. It cuts this weird little slice through British domestic life and dedicates itself to preserving it. It's not clear how sarcastic this is meant to be, but it is clear that it's not entirely sarcastic.

What results is a pretty pleasant album about the little things in life. It doesn't blow you away either ideologically or sonically, but it's a cool idea and they executed it well. Sometimes life isn't about moving forward, sometimes it's about stopping and smelling the roses

4/5

This is an absolutely stellar album. A while back on this list, I get Savane by Ali Farka Touré, and this album reminded me a lot of that, which makes sense as they were influenced by him. It's really cool to see people from all over the world pick up American Blues Rock and make it their own. The guitar work on the album is incredible, both intricate and filled with emotion.

I've been lamenting recently that I've been getting a lot of albums that are cool and significant, but aren't worthy of 5 stars on first listen. This album cured that. I loved the sound of it from the beginning of the first song, and every song after that was great, and then the album ended and I was sad

5/5

Well, let me just say that I'm a huge fan of musicians putting tits on the cover of their albums. Except when I'm trying to listen to the album at work. Which I am right now.

This is my first opportunity to see what I think of Roxy Music without Brian Eno. I'm a huge fan of his work, whereas I would struggle to name a Brian Ferry song. I know that he's been influential on several artists that I like, but he doesn't really do it for me. Too much of an Elvis ripoff, and this album is interminable

2/5

I'm told that this has been described as the first techno concept album (whoever said that should really get out more), but if that's the case, then I have no idea what the concept of this album is, since there are no words. It's pretty mediocre overall. Not bad by any means, but it builds very slowly and there was never really a moment that made me sit up and pay attention. By the time I was halfway through the album I was ready to be done with it

3/5

This album is a bit strange, since I was not expecting a Rod Stewart album when I started it. Stewart was a great choice as the vocalist for Beck's debut solo album, even though it feels a bit strange now, knowing that Stewart will be far more famous and recognizable than Beck in a few years after this.

Overall the album is good. It's atmospheric, and Beck does great work centering his guitar in the mix without making it overwhelm everything. Similarly, I like how he can do blues rock without it sounding like he's exploiting another culture for cash. Beck brings a lot of personality to his music

4/5

This is one of those albums that I think is good, but I also don't think is as good as its reputation. I feel like they rely on Beth Gibbon's voice for a lot, and her voice is excellent, so that makes the album work. However, because they rely on her voice so much, it feels like they don't bother to make the music all that interesting a lot of time. This just feels like it could be a lot better if they brought more to it in terms of musical complexity. Compared to the other albums on the Mt. Rushmore of Trip-Hop, this feels like a step behind albums like Mezzanine and Endtroducing.

4/5

I would describe Beth Orton as being the least famous person with a famous voice (at least in music). This album is fairly difficult for me to describe, but it's excellent. It's mellow and folky a lot of the time, but it surprises you sometimes as well (Stars All Seem to Weep kinda comes out of nowhere). Overall a great listen

4/5

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are one of those groups that I've heard about a lot but never actually heard. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was not expecting this. It's really good. It develops slowly, but has a lot of emotional weight to it. Everything fits together beautifully, and the vocal harmonies are a perfect compliment to the voice of Nick Cave, which always feels like it's on the verge of breaking, but it never does

4/5

This is another one of those albums that I think is totally fine, but I have no idea why its on this list. Like, if you played me this album blind and told me it was a Coldplay album or even a Sting solo album, I would believe you because it has a very generic sound. It's pleasant enough and I like it in the abstract, but I don't get what's special about it. I should not feel this bored 3 songs into my analysis of an album

3/5

Here's another album that it feels weird to rate. I spent so much goddamn time listening to this album while stoned in my dorm room during my sophomore year of college that it's hard to go back now and try to hear this album with fresh ears so that I can properly evaluate it. I've heard it so many times that it's too familiar for me to be objective about, but I suppose that's okay. The reason why I listened to it so much is because its a great album. Everything about it works and works together. The lyrics, the music, the samples, the flow from song to song. All of the ways in which The Wall feels a bit overwrought are smoothed out here. It's examining mental illness and other dark aspects of humanity without self pity, which is the thing that makes me dislike a lot of what Roger Waters produces. This album is a full-throated examination of the agony and the ecstasy of modern life without ever stopping to ask "Why me" and I think that's why its so enduring.

That and the music. Alan Parsons should have won a Nobel prize for his audio engineering on this album. It's mixed so exquisitely. It's like every single sound falls perfectly into the pocket where it belongs.

5/5

Well, at least I can say now that I've given Steely Dan's catalogue the ol college try. They're fine. They have some good songs, but overall this album just sort of droned on in the background while I did other things. I'll confess that I don't get what it is about this band that fascinates people so much, but at the same time I could see why people enjoy it overall

3/5

I found this album surprisingly tough to rate. In a vacuum it's a good album that features her distinctive vocal and musical styles well. I think that she's growing up as a lyricist and trying new things. However, I liked her first album a lot, and this feels like a step back from that. I could see a situation where, as time goes one, I grow to have a greater appreciation for this album relative to Pure Heroine, but as it stands this album feels a lot less fun and interesting. Still good, but definitely stuck in the shadow of it's older sibling

4/5